# Zinny Weli

> Zinny Weli is the co-founder and CEO of RoboDock, a Y Combinator (W26) startup building robots that run the depots for autonomous and electric vehicle fleets - handling charging, plug-in, and post-trip inspection without human labor. A mechanical engineer trained at the University of Michigan and Stanford, she previously owned the charging system for Amazon's Astro home robot at Lab126 and led the autonomous charging tower for Zipline's delivery drones from concept to multi-city deployment. She started RoboDock with Celine Wang, whom she first met at Stanford as her teaching assistant.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at RoboDock
- **Organizations:** RoboDock, Zipline, Amazon Lab126, Stanford University, University of Michigan
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BSME (Mechanical Engineering), University of Michigan, MSME, Robotics, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Co-founded RoboDock and led it into Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch, Owned the charging system for Amazon's first home robot, Astro, at Lab126, Led Zipline's P2 autonomous drone charging tower from concept to multi-city US deployment

## Career timeline

- **~2019** — Meets Celine Wang at Stanford, where Weli serves as her teaching assistant
- **Amazon Lab126** — Owned charging system design for the Astro home robot and advanced robotic manipulation R&D (~3.7 years)
- **Zipline** — Led the P2 autonomous drone charging tower from concept to multi-city US deployment (~1.7 years)
- **2025-2026** — Co-founds RoboDock with Celine Wang; joins Y Combinator's W26 batch as CEO

## Achievements

- Co-founded RoboDock and led it into Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch
- Owned the charging system for Amazon's first home robot, Astro, at Lab126
- Led Zipline's P2 autonomous drone charging tower from concept to multi-city US deployment
- Featured in the Women in Robotics community as a founder building real-world autonomy infrastructure
- Raised early funding (reported ~$500K) for RoboDock

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — RoboDock featured in the Women in Robotics July 2026 newsletter as a Y Combinator W26 startup
- **2026** — RoboDock launches publicly via Y Combinator as 'Autonomous Depots for Autonomous Fleets'

## Links

- Website: https://robodock.tech
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zinnyweli/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/zinny-weli
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-31