# Duncan Haldane

> Duncan Haldane is the co-founder and CEO of JITX, a Berkeley-born startup that lets electrical engineers design circuit boards by writing code instead of dragging lines on a screen. Before software, he built robots: at UC Berkeley he created two Guinness World Record machines - the X2-VelociRoACH, the fastest robot relative to its size, and Salto, the most vertically agile jumping robot ever built. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from Berkeley and started JITX in 2017 because he wanted a faster way to design the hardware inside his robots.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at JITX
- **Organizations:** JITX, UC Berkeley, Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital
- **Nationality:** United States
- **Education:** PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, BS, Mechanical Engineering, Florida State University
- **Known for:** Holds a Guinness World Record for the X2-VelociRoACH, fastest robot relative to its size (and fastest 3D-printed robot), Created Salto, recognized as the most vertically agile jumping robot ever built, Won a best-paper award at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Concept that became JITX originates from Haldane's graduate work at UC Berkeley
- **2015** — Builds the X2-VelociRoACH at Berkeley, a 3D-printed robot reaching 4.9 m/s - earns a Guinness World Record
- **2016** — Unveils Salto, the most vertically agile jumping robot ever built
- **2017** — Co-founds JITX with Jonathan Bachrach and Patrick Li
- **2018** — JITX goes through Y Combinator's Summer 2018 cohort
- **2022** — JITX raises a $12M Series A led by Sequoia Capital

## Achievements

- Holds a Guinness World Record for the X2-VelociRoACH, fastest robot relative to its size (and fastest 3D-printed robot)
- Created Salto, recognized as the most vertically agile jumping robot ever built
- Won a best-paper award at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
- Earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley in bio-inspired robotics
- Co-founded and leads JITX, backed by Sequoia and Y Combinator with a $12M Series A

## Latest updates

- **2022-09** — JITX announced a $12 million Series A led by Sequoia Capital.

## Links

- Website: https://jitx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-haldane/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/DuncanHaldane

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/duncan-haldane
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-12