PickNik Robotics
PickNik Robotics builds MoveIt Pro, a ROS 2-based Physical AI platform for designing, simulating, and deploying robotic arm applications, sold primarily as per-robot runtime and site-wide developer licenses to enterprise adopters across manufacturing, space, warehouse, healthcare, and cleaning verticals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBoulder, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What PickNik Robotics does
PickNik Robotics, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, builds MoveIt Pro, a production-grade Physical AI platform for developing and deploying robotic arm applications. The software is built on ROS 2 and combines a Behavior Tree-based application development environment, a real-time motion planning and control runtime, a library of more than 200 pre-built skills for computer vision, machine-learning perception, grasping, and motion control, and a MuJoCo-based simulation toolchain. A separate sub-product, MoveIt Pro Core, exposes the underlying planners, inverse kinematics solvers, and controllers through minimal-dependency C++ and Python APIs for safety-critical and embedded deployments. The platform integrates third-party frontier AI models including Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6, Segment Anything Model 2 and 3, Detectron2, and an LLM Behavior Tree assistant, while remaining model-agnostic and extensible through ROS 2 plugins.
The company serves enterprise robotics adopters across multiple verticals, including complex manufacturing (BMW on automotive assembly lines), space robotics (NASA Johnson Space Center and Motiv Space Systems for the Fly Foundational Robotics mission), warehouse and fulfillment, industrial and commercial cleaning, healthcare (Takeda), and construction (Lightspeed for prefabricated housing). Revenue is generated primarily through per-robot Runtime and site-wide Developer software licenses (annual or perpetual), supplemented by professional services such as solution studies, digital twin prototyping, application development, ROS driver development, and training courses. An Enterprise Runtime option supports air-gapped deployments, and a Hardware Ecosystem Partner program provides certified-compatible integration with eight Gold-tier robot arm OEMs including Universal Robots, FANUC, KUKA, Kinova, Franka, ABB, UFactory, and Elite Robotics.
PickNik has operated since 2015 largely on non-dilutive NASA SBIR funding before closing a $2 million pre-seed round led by Stellar Ventures and Cypress Growth Capital in October 2023. The team is led by Founder and Chief Product Officer Dave Coleman and CTO Nathan Brooks, and includes the core maintainers of the open-source MoveIt motion-planning framework. PickNik sells primarily through direct enterprise sales with a quote-based pricing model and no free trials, supported by an active developer community and extensive technical documentation.
PickNik Robotics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PickNik Robotics
- Legal name
- PickNik Inc.
- Website
- https://picknik.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- PickNik Robotics builds MoveIt Pro, a ROS 2-based Physical AI platform for designing, simulating, and deploying robotic arm applications, sold primarily as per-robot runtime and site-wide developer licenses to enterprise adopters across manufacturing, space, warehouse, healthcare, and cleaning verticals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PickNik Robotics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Robotics Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK)
Keywords
Where PickNik Robotics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boulder
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
PickNik Robotics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licenses: MoveIt Pro generates revenue primarily through software licensing with two main license types: Developer licenses for simulation and development, and Runtime licenses required for every physical robot deployment. Both annual and perpetual license options are available. Enterprise runtime option includes air-gapped installation capability.
- Professional Services: Services including Solution Studies, Digital Twin Prototype, Application Development, ROS Driver Development, and Training Courses. These support customer adoption and implementation of MoveIt Pro across various robotics applications.
- MoveIt Pro Core: Separate product offering exposing core MoveIt Pro planners, solvers, and controllers with low-level C++ and Python APIs. Includes real-time controllers, inverse kinematics solvers, and planners with minimum dependencies for safety-critical applications.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Developer License - Simulation only |
| Subscription | Annual | Runtime License - Production deployment |
| Freemium | Annual | Student Version - Free limited rollout |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Enterprise Runtime - Air-gapped installation |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
PickNik Robotics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PickNik Robotics develops and sells MoveIt Pro, a production-grade Physical AI software platform for robotic arm applications built on ROS 2. The platform combines a Behavior Tree-based developer environment, 200+ pre-built skill Behaviors, ML perception, advanced motion planning, MuJoCo simulation, and multi-arm/mobile manipulation. MoveIt Pro Core is offered as a lightweight add-on exposing core planners, IK solvers, and controllers through C++/Python APIs with minimal dependencies for safety-critical deployments. PickNik also monetizes professional services including Solution Studies, Digital Twin Prototyping, Application Development, ROS Driver Development, and Training Courses.
Product overview
PickNik Robotics offers MoveIt Pro as its primary product family — a platform for building and deploying production-ready Physical AI robotic arm applications. The family consists of two named products: MoveIt Pro (the full-featured, unified platform combining a developer UI, Behavior Tree editor, real-time runtime, high-fidelity MuJoCo simulator, 200+ pre-built skill Behaviors, ML perception, and teleoperation tools) and MoveIt Pro Core (a lightweight, minimal-dependency C++/Python library exposing the same core planners, IK solvers, and controllers without the full platform overhead, designed for safety-certifiable deployments). Both products share the same underlying motion planning and manipulation technology from the open-source MoveIt framework.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- MoveIt Pro: Professional tools to create and deploy advanced and safe robot applications. A production-grade Physical AI platform for accelerating the development of robotic arm applications.
- MoveIt Pro Core
Products and services
- MoveIt Pro Production-grade Physical AI platform for accelerating the development of robotic arm applications, built on ROS 2. Combines a Behavior Tree-based developer environment, 200+ pre-built skill Behaviors, ML perception, advanced motion planning, MuJoCo simulation, teleoperation suite, and multi-arm/mobile manipulation. Enables customers to launch robotic applications 12-24 months earlier than building from scratch.
- MoveIt Pro Core Lightweight real-time C++ and Python manipulation library with minimum dependencies, exposing MoveIt Pro's core planners, inverse kinematics solvers, and controllers without Behavior Trees, ROS dependency, or the full application platform. Designed for safety certification and deployment on lower-spec hardware.
- Solution Studies Professional consulting engagement to evaluate customer robotics application requirements and recommend a MoveIt Pro implementation approach.
- Digital Twin Prototype Service to build a digital twin and functional prototype of a customer's robotic application using MoveIt Pro before committing to hardware deployment.
- Application Development Hands-on engineering service where PickNik engineers build custom robotic manipulation applications on top of MoveIt Pro for enterprise customers.
- ROS Driver Development Service to develop ROS and ROS 2 drivers integrating customer hardware with the MoveIt Pro platform.
- Training Courses In-person and online training courses teaching teams how to develop and deploy robotic arm applications using the MoveIt Pro platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- Customers launch robotic applications 12-24 months earlier
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use PickNik Robotics
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
PickNik Robotics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability10 records
Feature10 records
PickNik Robotics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- NASA Johnson Space CenterflagshipPickNik collaborated with NASA's Johnson Space Center to test MoveIt Pro software enabling a robotic arm to perform spacecraft tasks like opening hatches and transferring cargo bags for future Artemis missions. Software developed with funding from NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program and commercially released in 2023.
- BMWflagshipBMW uses MoveIt Pro software on its automotive assembly lines for robotic manipulation applications. BMW represents a flagship commercial customer demonstrating production deployment of the platform in high-volume manufacturing.
- LightspeedcoreConstruction company Lightspeed uses MoveIt Pro for building affordable housing panels. Demonstrates application in construction and prefabricated building manufacturing.
- Motiv Space SystemscoreMotiv Space Systems entered contractual agreement with PickNik to support software development for NASA's Fly Foundational Robotics (FFR) mission. PickNik provides MoveIt Pro motion planning software, flight runtime configuration, and ground-based operator terminal for mission planning, simulation, and on-orbit execution.
- Universal RobotscoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner offering e-Series and cb3 Series robots. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box. PickNik provides online setup guide and recommends Polyscope 5.
- FANUCcoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with CRX Series robots. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box with ROS support on most control boxes.
- KUKAcoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with KR Cybertech Series. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box with ROS support on most control boxes.
- KinovacoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with Gen3 robots. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box.
- Franka RoboticscoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with FR3 robots. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box. Dual arm model URDFs updated for use with MoveIt Pro.
- ABBcoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with IRB Series. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box.
- UFactorycoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with XArm Series. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box.
- Elite RobotscoreGold-tier supported robot arm partner with CS Series. Certified Compatible with MoveIt Pro out of the box.
- Open Source Robotics FoundationcorePartnership supporting ROS and MoveIt open source ecosystem. Open Robotics CTO Geoff Biggs provided quote: 'MoveIt Pro's UI is an excellent implementation of the visual programming paradigm, and helps make complex trees of behaviors understandable.'
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
PickNik Robotics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Intrinsic: Alphabet-owned robotics software company building an end-to-end platform for industrial robotic manipulation, perception, and AI-driven application development. Direct competitor to MoveIt Pro, with substantially greater capital and access to DeepMind research (including Gemini Robotics-ER).
- READY Robotics: Pittsburgh-based company offering ForgeOS, a robot-agnostic operating system and no-code programming environment for industrial robots. Competes with PickNik on the same core proposition of accelerating robotic arm application development across heterogeneous hardware.
- Wandelbots: German robotics software company offering a programming platform that enables no-code robot application development, with strong European OEM relationships. Directly comparable in target market (enterprise robotics teams) and approach (simplifying robot programming and integration).
- RoboDK: Montreal-based company offering a generic robot programming and simulation platform that supports a broad range of robot arms via offline programming, calibration, and post-processors. Overlaps with MoveIt Pro in offline programming, simulation, and multi-OEM support.
- Vention: Montreal-based company offering a cloud-based robot programming and automation platform with a marketplace of pre-built applications. Targets the same enterprise need as PickNik: rapid deployment of robotic arm cells without specialized robotics expertise.
Broad incumbents
- NVIDIA (Isaac Manipulator / Isaac Lab): NVIDIA's robotics stack (Isaac Sim, Isaac Manipulator, cuMotion) provides foundation models, simulation, and motion planning for robotic arms, bundled with its dominant GPU and Jetson hardware platforms. Represents a broad incumbent threat as NVIDIA pushes vertically integrated Physical AI solutions.
- ABB Robotics: ABB's RobotStudio and OmniCore controller software constitute a vertically integrated robot programming and simulation platform. While ABB is also a Certified Compatible PickNik partner, its own software stack competes for the same enterprise mindshare.
- Universal Robots: Largest collaborative robot OEM, with its own URCaps/PolyScope software ecosystem and UR+ partner marketplace. While a MoveIt Pro Certified Compatible partner, UR's proprietary software and growing software investment create channel and competitive tension with PickNik.
Emerging players
- Rapid Robotics: Robotics-as-a-Service startup building pre-configured robotic cells, including the 3Pro industrial humanoid, using MoveIt Pro for mobile manipulation. Represents both a customer and a downstream channel/competitor in turnkey robotic deployment.
- Formic: Robotics-as-a-Service provider focused on U.S. manufacturing, deploying and operating robotic cells for small and mid-sized manufacturers. Adjacent competitor in commercializing robotic arm deployments, though not a direct software stack competitor.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
PickNik Robotics social profiles
Digital presencePickNik Robotics compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
PickNik Robotics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PickNik Robotics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
PickNik Robotics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds11 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PickNik Robotics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PickNik Robotics
What does PickNik Robotics do?
PickNik Robotics develops and sells MoveIt Pro, a production-grade Physical AI software platform for robotic arm applications built on ROS 2. The platform combines a Behavior Tree-based developer environment, 200+ pre-built skill Behaviors, ML perception, advanced motion planning, MuJoCo simulation, and multi-arm/mobile manipulation. MoveIt Pro Core is offered as a lightweight add-on exposing core planners, IK solvers, and controllers through C++/Python APIs with minimal dependencies for safety-critical deployments. PickNik also monetizes professional services including Solution Studies, Digital Twin Prototyping, Application Development, ROS Driver Development, and Training Courses.
Is PickNik Robotics a public or private company?
PickNik Robotics is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was PickNik Robotics founded?
PickNik Robotics was founded in 2015. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is PickNik Robotics based?
PickNik Robotics is headquartered in Boulder, United States, in the North America region.
How does PickNik Robotics make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are professional Services and moveIt Pro Core.
Who are PickNik Robotics's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Intrinsic, READY Robotics, Wandelbots, RoboDK and Vention. Broad incumbents are NVIDIA (Isaac Manipulator / Isaac Lab), ABB Robotics and Universal Robots. Emerging players are Rapid Robotics and Formic.
Does PickNik Robotics have an API?
Yes. MoveIt Pro exposes a REST API V2 for programmatic Objective management using structured JSON (rather than XML), enabling external callers (Python scripts, REST clients, fleet managers) to inject runtime parameter overrides into Behavior Trees via DoObjectiveSequence or ExecuteObjective. An Objective XML verification endpoint (/v2/objectives/verify) validates in-memory BehaviorTree JSON payloads. A ROS Bridge API enables custom web UI panes to interact with ROS topics. The system also provides C++ and Python SDKs/APIs for motion planning, IK solving, and Behavior Tree integration. Developer documentation is at docs.picknik.ai/doxygen.
What industry is PickNik Robotics in?
PickNik Robotics's product category is Robotics Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAIAK, Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins). Its NAICS code is 541512 and its SIC code is 7372.