# Arshan Poursohi

> Arshan Poursohi is the CEO and Co-Founder of Third Wave Automation, a Union City, California-based robotics company building autonomous high-reach forklifts powered by a proprietary Shared Autonomy Platform. Drawing on research stints at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Google Robotics, and Toyota Research Institute, Poursohi co-founded Third Wave in 2018 with the conviction that warehouse automation should enhance - not replace - human judgment. The company has raised over $82 million from investors including Woven Capital (Toyota's growth fund), Norwest Venture Partners, Innovation Endeavors, Qualcomm Ventures, and Zebra Technologies, and its TWA Reach forklifts now operate commercially in warehouses across the U.S.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Third Wave Automation
- **Organizations:** Third Wave Automation, Google Robotics, Toyota Research Institute, Sun Microsystems Laboratories
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Cognitive Science, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Third Wave Automation in 2018, raising over $82M in total funding, Developed the Shared Autonomy Platform enabling forklifts to operate autonomously 90% of the time, Built the TWA Reach forklift capable of navigating aisles 10+ feet wide up to 366 inches high

## Career timeline

- **~2000-2008** — Staff Researcher at Sun Microsystems Laboratories (Menlo Park, CA); worked on Project Sun SPOT wireless sensor networking platform
- **~2008-2013** — Researcher and engineer at Google Research; worked on cloud robotics, object recognition, and sensor technologies
- **~2013-2016** — Led the ACME engineering team at Google Robotics; built smart 3D environmental understanding infrastructure
- **~2016-2018** — Director of Engineering at Toyota Research Institute; oversaw advanced robotics systems development
- **2018** — Co-founded Third Wave Automation with Mac Mason and James Davidson
- **2018** — Third Wave Automation received seed funding from Eclipse Ventures
- **2021** — Third Wave Automation raised $40M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners
- **2024** — Received strategic investment from Qualcomm Ventures and Zebra Technologies
- **2024-10** — Third Wave Automation closed $27M Series C led by Woven Capital (Toyota's growth fund)

## Achievements

- Co-founded Third Wave Automation in 2018, raising over $82M in total funding
- Developed the Shared Autonomy Platform enabling forklifts to operate autonomously 90% of the time
- Built the TWA Reach forklift capable of navigating aisles 10+ feet wide up to 366 inches high
- Secured backing from Toyota (via Woven Capital), Norwest Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, and Zebra Technologies
- Patented 'Continual Proactive Learning for Autonomous Robot Agents' (WO2021034303A1)
- Holds multiple patents in robotics perception, tactile sensing, and robotic gripper design
- Led robotics engineering teams at both Google and Toyota Research Institute
- Contributed to Project Sun SPOT at Sun Microsystems Laboratories
- Showcased live autonomous forklift demos at Modex 2024 in Atlanta
- Launched Armada Fleet Management System enabling single-operator management of multiple autonomous forklifts

## Latest updates

- **2024-10** — Third Wave Automation closed $27M Series C led by Woven Capital (Toyota's growth fund), with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Innovation Endeavors, and Qualcomm Ventures
- **2024-10** — Poursohi co-hosted the company's 'Elevator Pitch' video with CFO Simon Biddiscombe, explaining the Third Wave vision to a broader audience
- **2024-05** — Third Wave Automation launched Armada, a fleet management system enabling a single operator to oversee multiple autonomous forklifts simultaneously
- **2024-03** — Third Wave Automation showcased live autonomous forklift demonstrations at Modex 2024 in Atlanta, the industry's flagship material handling trade show
- **2024-01** — Secured strategic investments from Qualcomm Ventures and Zebra Technologies, adding enterprise tech credibility to the company's backer roster

## Links

- Website: https://thirdwave.ai
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/arshanpoursohi
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thirdwaveai
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h_TK11xUdY

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/arshan-poursohi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14