# Robert Wachen

> Robert Wachen is the co-founder and president of Etched, the San Jose AI hardware company building inference clusters. Before Etched, he co-founded Mentor Labs and Prod, and as a teenager helped start a Maryland charity that delivered birthday cakes. In 2026, Etched announced its first rack delivery to Jane Street and a $700 million financing at a $21 billion valuation.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & President at Etched
- **Organizations:** Etched, Prod, Mentor Labs, Birthday Cakes 4 Free Maryland
- **Education:** Decision science studies; did not graduate, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Etched and helped deliver its first AI inference rack to Jane Street., Co-founded Mentor Labs, acquired by Crimson Education in 2022., Co-founded Prod, a student startup incubator.

## Career timeline

- **2015** — Co-founded the Montgomery County chapter of Birthday Cakes 4 Free with his sister Allison.
- **2018–2020** — Served as co-president of the birthday-cake charity.
- **2021** — Co-founded Prod, a student startup incubator.
- **2022** — Co-founded Mentor Labs, later acquired by Crimson Education.
- **2022–2023** — Joined Gavin Uberti and Chris Zhu in co-founding Etched and left Harvard to work on it.
- **2024** — Named a Thiel Fellow.
- **2026-07** — Etched announced a $300 million Series C at a $10.3 billion valuation.
- **2026-08** — Etched announced its first rack shipment to Jane Street and $700 million in financing at a $21 billion valuation.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Etched and helped deliver its first AI inference rack to Jane Street.
- Co-founded Mentor Labs, acquired by Crimson Education in 2022.
- Co-founded Prod, a student startup incubator.
- Selected for the 2024 Thiel Fellowship.
- Named a 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholar and a 2022 Boston 25 Under 25 honoree.
- Co-founded a Maryland charity that has delivered thousands of birthday cakes.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Etched said it shipped its first rack to Jane Street and raised $700 million at a $21 billion valuation.
- **2026-07** — Etched announced a $300 million Series C at a $10.3 billion valuation and a new 80,000-square-foot, 10-megawatt facility in Milpitas.
- **2026-06** — Etched emerged from stealth with working silicon, first racks, and more than $1 billion in customer contracts, according to the company.

## Links

- Website: https://www.etched.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertwachen
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/robertwachen

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/robert-wachen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-29