Shutdown
Nov 2025Public reports said K-Scale Labs stopped active development, laid off most of the team, refunded pre-orders, and open-sourced proprietary IP after failing to secure follow-on financing.
SourceCompany research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Overview
K-Scale Labs is a Y Combinator W24 humanoid-robotics startup founded in 2024 and based in Palo Alto. It built open-source, affordable humanoid robots and the KOS software stack, with the flagship K-Bot/Stompy platform sold through its shop; public sources now describe the company as inactive/out of business after a late-2025 shutdown and open-sourcing of IP.
Primary product
K-Bot / Stompy open-source humanoid robot platform
Founded
2024
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California, United States
Team size
1-10
Industry
Robotics Engineering
Sub-industry
Open-source humanoid robotics / embodied AI
Offices
Palo Alto, California 94027, United States (HQ)
Palo Alto, California, United States
New York, New York, United States
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Business model
Hardware sales
Developer kits
Open-source robotics software/platform
Funding
Stage
seed / pre-seed (public sources conflict)
Total raised
$4.8M
Latest round
Seed · Jun 2024
Latest amount
$4M
People & investors
Leadership
Founder, CEO, CTO
Co-founder & Hardware Lead
Co-founder and ML
Chief Operating Officer
Head of Product & Engineering / Founding Engineer
Work & culture
Open-source, research-driven, hardware-aware, and highly mission-led; the company emphasized building in public, sharing models and hardware designs, and making humanoid robotics accessible and affordable.
Compensation
No public employee compensation data found; public signals include open-source work, bounties/grants, and a product-first rather than salary-first public posture.
Product & market
Pricing
Direct hardware sales with preorder / founder's-edition pricing; add-ons and developer kits sold separately.
Differentiators
- —Open-source hardware and software stack
- —3D-printable / maker-friendly humanoid design
- —Low BOM target under $10,000 for the early robot design
- —End-to-end sim-to-real tooling and open docs
- —Rust-based robot firmware / OS
- —Edge-focused vision-language-action models
- —Built in public and community-oriented
- —Repairable / customizable platform
Technology
JAX
MuJoCo
Python
Rust
Jupyter Notebook
NVIDIA Isaac / Isaac Lab
PyKOS
SigLIP
DinoV2
Qwen2
Onshape
SolidWorks
Customers
Robotics developers
Research labs
Robotics enthusiasts
Hobbyists
Academic users
Embodied-AI builders
Warehouses
Households
Competitors
Unitree Robotics
Booster Robotics
EngineAI
1X
Boston Dynamics
Agibot
Noetix Robotics
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
≈$2.9M estimated annual revenue (2024 public estimate)
Estimated monthly visits
5.9K
Signals & risks
Acquisition
Nov 2025The Information reported that K-Scale Labs explored a sale to 1X and Bot Co. before shutdown.
SourceLatest news
Six Degrees of Robotics · Nov 2025
Summarized the shutdown and described acquisition talks and competitive pressure in humanoid robotics.
Mike Kalil · Nov 2025
Detailed the shutdown, layoffs, and customer refund plan after follow-on fundraising failed.
Humanoids Daily · Nov 2025
Reported that K-Scale canceled preorders, laid off most of the team, and released IP under open-source-style licenses after financing failed.
The Information · Nov 2025
Reported that K-Scale Labs explored a sale to 1X and Bot Co. before shutting down.
K-Scale Labs on LinkedIn · Jul 2025
Company post saying K-Bot orders crossed $1M, illustrating demand before the later shutdown.
Jobs and careers at K-Scale Labs
0 jobs at K-Scale Labs
No open positions
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