Company launching manufacturing pilots and partnerships for modular hardware and AI software ecosystem.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 9, 2026 — Mesoware today announced $1.5 million to build the next chapter of AI-powered robotics solutions for automated manufacturing. The pre-seed round was led by Pillar VC.

"With hardware costs falling and AI advancing, the final hurdle in robotics is putting it all together at scale," said Joe Mattekatt, co-founder and CEO of Mesoware. "Mesoware is that missing link, turning complex robotic integration into plug-and-play solutions that make physical automation accessible to everyone."

Mesoware's platform enables manufacturers to design and deploy intelligent automation solutions effectively and efficiently. Customers can use the platform to capture tasks they want a robot to perform, and set up fully productive work cells quickly and with minimal robot training involved. Mesoware's modular hardware and software ecosystem is built to allow robots to handle common real-world variation, such as differences in part placement, tolerances, and sequence changes, enabling the automated work to remain consistent without frequent reprogramming. They offer native modules as well as integrations with existing third-party modules. Examples of tasks that robots can execute with Mesoware include assembly, packaging, and machine tending. The team is initially focusing on automating subassembly processes for products such as drones.

"While most manufacturers want to increase the use of robotics and automation, many small and mid-sized manufacturers are held back by either a lack of in-house robotics knowledge or the high costs of purchasing and implementing robotics," said Parker McKee, Partner at Pillar VC. "Mesoware is virtually eliminating barriers to adoption for AI-powered robotic automation, which will help manufacturers around the world lower their costs and increase production capacity."

Mesoware was founded by Joe Mattekatt, Shalin Patel, and Pei Liang Guo, who met in high school. As teenagers, they built robots together and won accolades in multiple robotics competitions, including at back-to-back robotics world championships. The team brings product and engineering experience across robotics, hardware, and software, with prior roles spanning companies including Uber, NVIDIA, Tesla, and Matic.

About Mesoware
Mesoware is building an AI-powered ecosystem of hardware and software that helps manufacturers design, deploy, and scale robotic automation. The company focuses on manufacturers and hardware scale-ups that need automation to work reliably in high-mix production. To learn more or inquire about pilots, visit mesoware.com.