# Salem Robotics

> Salem Robotics builds autonomy software that turns robots already on-site at nuclear and other hazardous facilities into reliable, regulation-compliant radiological survey operators. Using a deterministic planning approach tailored to safety-critical infrastructure, its hardware-agnostic platform lets robots walk predetermined routes, handle instruments, collect radiation measurements, and generate auditable compliance reports - replacing hours of manual surveys that today pull trained radiation-protection technicians into exposure zones. Founded by Los Alamos and UT Austin robotics veterans, the company is a Y Combinator S26 company based in Austin, Texas.

- **Founded:** 2025
- **Headquarters:** Austin, Texas, United States
- **Founders:** Caleb Horan (CEO & Co-Founder), Janak Panthi (CTO & Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** 3
- **Products:** Autonomous survey and route planning, Mission execution software, Radiological data collection, Automated compliance reporting, Operator dashboard
- **Notable:** Accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2026 (S26) batch, one of ~200 companies from 30,000+ applicants., Founding team with 15+ years combined nuclear-industry robotics experience, including work at Los Alamos National Laboratory., Built a hardware-agnostic autonomy platform compatible with existing robots such as Boston Dynamics Spot.

## Products & services

- **Autonomous survey and route planning** — Deterministic mission planning that generates predetermined inspection and survey routes tailored to safety-critical infrastructure.
- **Mission execution software** — Hardware-agnostic autonomy that runs on robots already on-site (for example Boston Dynamics Spot), enabling them to walk sites, handle instruments, overcome obstacles, and collect measurements.
- **Radiological data collection** — Integration with radiation detectors and mission-specific instruments to capture measurements automatically instead of by hand.
- **Automated compliance reporting** — Generates auditable, regulation-ready survey and inspection reports, replacing manual transcription into digital systems.
- **Operator dashboard** — Interface for planning missions and reviewing results after the robot completes its run.

## Achievements

- Accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2026 (S26) batch, one of ~200 companies from 30,000+ applicants.
- Founding team with 15+ years combined nuclear-industry robotics experience, including work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- Built a hardware-agnostic autonomy platform compatible with existing robots such as Boston Dynamics Spot.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Joined Y Combinator's Summer 2026 (S26) batch as an autonomy-software company for hazardous industry.
- **2025-12** — Posted principal engineering roles (mechanical, firmware, SWE) while operating in stealth as a YC S26 company.

## Links

- Website: https://salemroboticsinc.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/salem-robotics

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/salem-robotics-yc-s26
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-30