# Simon Kalouche

> Simon Kalouche is the founder and CEO of Nimble, a San Francisco-based robotics company that builds fully autonomous AI-powered fulfillment centers. A mechanical engineering graduate of Ohio State and robotics master's graduate of Carnegie Mellon, Kalouche invented the first low-cost quasi-direct-drive actuators in 2016 - a breakthrough that catalyzed robots from MIT's Mini Cheetah to Tesla Optimus. He left his Stanford PhD under Fei-Fei Li to commercialize the technology and has since built Nimble into a billion-dollar company with $231M in total funding, a landmark FedEx partnership, and a board that includes Marc Raibert (Boston Dynamics founder) and Sebastian Thrun (Google X founder).

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Nimble
- **Organizations:** Nimble, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, The Ohio State University
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Mechanical Engineering (Honors), Minor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, The Ohio State University, M.S. Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University - Robotics Institute, PhD Robotics (on leave / paused to found Nimble), Stanford University - Vision and Learning Lab (SVL)
- **Known for:** Invented the first low-cost quasi-direct-drive (QDD) actuators at CMU (2016), technology adopted in MIT Mini Cheetah, Unitree humanoids, and Tesla Optimus, Founded Nimble, raising $231M total and achieving $1B valuation, Led $106M Series C funding round co-led by FedEx (October 2024)

## Career timeline

- **2013-2014** — Research on gecko-adhesive climbing robots with NASA JPL and Ohio State's Dr. Haijun Su
- **2014** — Graduated Ohio State with honors in Mechanical Engineering; won Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award and Denman Forum 1st place
- **2014** — Earned NASA Space Grant Fellowship and NDSEG Fellowship; joined CMU Robotics Institute for M.S.
- **2016** — Invented the first low-cost quasi-direct-drive (QDD) actuators at CMU - enabling sim-to-real RL for legged robots at ~1/10th traditional cost
- **2016** — Received James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellowship at CMU; joined Stanford's Vision and Learning Lab under Fei-Fei Li
- **2017** — Founded Nimble Robotics (later Nimble AI) in San Francisco, pausing Stanford PhD; received Stanford StartX Alumni support
- **2019** — Published deep imitation learning research using VR teleoperation and upper-body exoskeletons
- **2021** — Named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Manufacturing & Industry; Nimble raises early-stage funding
- **2024** — Nimble closes $106M Series C at $1B valuation, led by FedEx; named Ohio State Texnikoi Outstanding Alumni Award
- **2025** — FedEx makes additional investment in Nimble; total funding reaches $231M

## Achievements

- Invented the first low-cost quasi-direct-drive (QDD) actuators at CMU (2016), technology adopted in MIT Mini Cheetah, Unitree humanoids, and Tesla Optimus
- Founded Nimble, raising $231M total and achieving $1B valuation
- Led $106M Series C funding round co-led by FedEx (October 2024)
- Named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Manufacturing & Industry (2021)
- Ohio State Texnikoi Outstanding Alumni Award (2024)
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow
- IEEE SSRR Best Applied Paper Award
- James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow at Carnegie Mellon
- NASA Space Grant Fellow
- Ohio State Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award (2014)
- Denman Research Forum 1st Place at Ohio State (2014)
- Board of directors includes Fei-Fei Li, Marc Raibert, and Sebastian Thrun
- Secured strategic alliance with FedEx to scale autonomous 3PL fulfillment

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — FedEx makes additional investment in Nimble beyond the $106M Series C, deepening their strategic alliance
- **2024-10** — Nimble closes $106M Series C at $1B valuation, led by FedEx, with co-lead from Cedar Pine LLC
- **2024-10** — Named Ohio State Texnikoi Outstanding Alumni Award at College of Engineering Alumni Awards ceremony
- **2024-09** — Strategic alliance with FedEx announced to scale autonomous fulfillment using Nimble's generalist warehouse robots

## Links

- Website: https://simonkalouche.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-kalouche-98883343
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/simonkalouche
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/simonkalouche

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/simon-kalouche
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-11