What BitRobot does

BitRobot is a decentralized coordination protocol for robotics and Embodied AI, built on the Solana blockchain and operated by the Cayman Islands-registered BitRobot Foundation. The platform organizes contributors, hardware operators, teleoperators, and compute providers into discrete subnets that run focused missions on real and simulated robots, with outputs (datasets, AI models, evaluations) flowing back into the broader network. Active subnets include ET Fugi (rover teleoperation data, SN/01), SeeSaw by Virtuals (mobile egocentric video, SN/02), TeleArms: RoboPlayground (simulated robotic arm data, SN/03), and Axis Robotics (manipulation trajectories, SN/04). A $5M Grand Challenges Fund sponsors three competitions (Earth Rover Navigation, Robotic Origami, IKEA Assembly) with prizes of up to $1M each.

Underlying technology centers on three components: Verifiable Robotic Work (VRW) for measuring and validating contributor output, Embodied Node Tokens (ENT) as NFT digital twins of physical robots used for identity and payment routing, and Gandalf AI, an open-sourced governance model that proposes network measurement weights alongside a Senate of community representatives. BitRobot also ships hardware — the Earth Rover Mini+ Agent Kit (a ~€255 portable 1.5kg rover) and RoboCap (a low-cost wearable for egocentric video) — and supports an open SDK for natural-language agent control on rover platforms.

The business model combines multiple streams: per-epoch subnet registration and ENT fees paid by subnet owners and robot operators, small resource-allocation fees when third parties rent compute or robot resources via subnets, licensing fees for commercial use of stewarded data, token emissions to verified contributors (which are costs rather than revenue), and direct hardware sales. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on Discord, hackathon sponsorship (UC Berkeley Cal Hacks), presence at robotics conferences (CoRL, ICRA, IROS), and earned media coverage rather than traditional paid sales. Primary customer segments are academic researchers, AI/ML practitioners, hobbyists/gamers contributing via gameplay, and hardware operators monetizing idle robot fleets. The company raised $8M in seed funding in February 2025 led by Protocol VC.

Name

BitRobot

Legal name

BitRobot Foundation

Website

https://bitrobot.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BitRobot is a decentralized coordination protocol on Solana that organizes subnets of teleoperators, hardware operators, and researchers to generate real-world datasets, AI models, and benchmarks for embodied AI, complemented by consumer hardware and a $5M Grand Challenges fund.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decentralized Robotics Platform

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Decentralized GPU/AI Compute Networks (training/inference, GPU renting, model hosting) (FSAPALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Blockchain Game Studios & Game Development (FSAPAGAC), Decentralized Compute Node Operators (e.g., GPU/CPU providers) (FSADAKAK)

Keywords

• Decentralized robotics platform
• Embodied AI infrastructure
• Robot teleoperation data
• DePIN robotics coordination
• Crowdsourced robotics research

Headquarters

HQ city

Seongnam

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Token/Reward System: Network participants earn tokens by contributing verified robotic work through subnets. Tokens are earned from on-chain rewards distributed based on VRW measurements, with emissions flowing to subnets based on Senate and Gandalf AI evaluation.
2. Resource Allocation Fees: Fees calculated as a small percentage of revenue paid to Subnet Owners when third parties rent resources via subnets in the BitRobot ecosystem (e.g., AI labs hiring robot fleets).
3. Licensing Fees: Fees paid by third parties to commercially license data or assets stewarded by the BitRobot Foundation. Public subnets produce open-sourced outputs for non-commercial use by default.
4. Subnet Registration and ENT Fees: Subnet owners pay registration fees per epoch to maintain active subnets. Robot owners pay fees per epoch when registering new robots with ENT NFTs into the network.
5. Hardware Sales: Sale of Mini+ Agent Kit, an affordable robotic rover platform (~€255) for AI agent experimentation and embodied intelligence research.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

BitRobot operates a decentralized coordination protocol on the Solana blockchain that enables the creation and operation of subnets aggregating robots, compute resources, teleoperators, and researchers to produce datasets, AI models, and real-world evaluations for embodied AI research. Contributors earn token rewards for verified robotic work through the Verifiable Robotic Work (VRW) system, while hardware products like the Earth Rover Mini+ Agent Kit enable direct participation in the network.

Product overview

BitRobot is the world's open robotics lab—a decentralized coordination platform for embodied AI research built on Solana blockchain. The platform uses a subnet-based architecture where each subnet runs focused robotics missions generating specific outputs (datasets, AI models, evaluations). Core active subnets include: ET Fugi (SN/01) for rover teleoperation gameplay generating navigation data; SeeSaw by Virtuals (SN/02) for mobile egocentric video collection; TeleArms: RoboPlayground (SN/03) for robotic arm simulation; and Axis Robotics (SN/04) for manipulation trajectories. Supporting infrastructure includes Verifiable Robotic Work (VRW) for task verification, Embodied Node Tokens (ENTs) as robot digital twins, and governance via the BitRobot Foundation, Senate, and Gandalf AI. The $5M Grand Challenges Fund sponsors three competitions (Earth Rover Navigation GC/01, Robotic Origami GC/02, IKEA Furniture Assembly GC/03) with prizes up to $1M each. Hardware offerings include the Earth Rover Mini+ Agent Kit and RoboCap wearable. FrodoBots Lab serves as the development lab building and operating hardware platforms. The network coordinates researchers, teleoperators, robot owners, and compute providers globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BitRobot Network A decentralized coordination protocol for robotics and Embodied AI, enabling creation and operation of Subnets that aggregate resources such as robots, compute, teleoperators, and researchers. Subnets generate outputs such as datasets, AI models, or real-world evaluations.
• ET Fugi (SN/01) BitRobot's first gaming subnet, turning real-world robot teleoperation into a global data engine for embodied AI. Participants remotely drive EarthRover robots to complete missions, explore cities, and earn rewards while generating navigation data.
• SeeSaw by Virtuals (SN/02) Egocentric data collection subnet that turns everyday human activity into robotics training data. Users record short first-person quest videos of daily tasks, which are validated through Verifiable Robotic Work and rewarded.
• TeleArms: RoboPlayground (SN/03) Virtual manipulation subnet that lets contributors train robotic arm policies without physical hardware. Users perform tasks like grasping, sorting, and stacking in simulation, generating scalable datasets for embodied AI.
• Axis Robotics (SN/04) Teleop-in-sim subnet built with Axis Robotics. Contributors complete robotic manipulation tasks in simulation, generating verified demonstration data that powers Physical AI training while reducing cost and complexity of real-world data collection.
• Earth Rover Mini+ Agent Kit Personal playground for AI agents and embodied intelligence. Portable 1.5kg rover with dual cameras, 4-5 hour battery life, cloud-connected via 4G or WiFi. Features plug-and-play, tele-op, and AI modes with open SDK for natural language agent control.
• RoboCap Low-cost wearable hardware platform designed to simplify global robot deployment and egocentric video data collection. Capable of over ten hours of continuous operation.
• Ultimate Fighting Bots (UFB) Competitive robot fighting league designed as media and entertainment format for real-world robotics, exploring whether entertainment can serve as effective onramp for mainstream engagement with robots.
• Earth Rover Grand Challenge (GC/01) Urban navigation challenge where human gamer teams compete with AI teams. AI models benchmarked against humans navigating from UC Berkeley to Stanford and in unseen environments worldwide. Prize up to $1M.
• Robotic Origami Grand Challenge (GC/02) Fine-motor dexterity challenge where robots compete with expert human practitioners from the Nippon Origami Association. First benchmark involves folding a traditional Japanese paper airplane judged for accuracy, fidelity, and speed. Prize up to $1M.
• Robotic IKEA Furniture Assembly Grand Challenge (GC/03) Multi-part furniture assembly challenge where robots compete with skilled human assemblers. Tests perception, sequencing, bimanual coordination, dexterity, and error recovery. Prize up to $1M.

Quantifiable outcome

• 16,000+ hours of navigation data generated with ~half open-sourced
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Google DeepMindcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-authored IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine article on Earth Rover Challenge 2024; collaborated on establishing real-world navigation benchmarks. Co-organizer of Earth Rover Grand Challenge with researchers from NUS, NYU, GMU, Princeton, and others.
• UC BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership resulted in LogoNav navigation model trained on FrodoBots data and evaluated on physical robots across six countries. Sponsored Cal Hacks 2025 where 16+ student teams hacked with BitRobot hardware. Dataset published on Hugging Face.
• FrodoBots LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment lab building and operating hardware platforms, games, and teleoperation systems that enable experimentation and data generation across the BitRobot network. Started as a weekend project by brothers Michael and Sam Cho. Responsible for EarthRover robots, ET Fugi game, UFB fighting league, and RoboCap hardware.
• University of WashingtonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearchers involved in RoboPlayground (SN/03) teleoperation subnet development for virtual robotic arm manipulation tasks.
• Meta AIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Earth Rover Challenge; contributed to open benchmarks for embodied AI navigation research.
• Axis RoboticscoreTechnology or IntegrationSubnet owner of SN/04 (TeleArms). Contributors complete robotic manipulation tasks in simulation, generating verified demonstration data for Physical AI training using Franka FR3 robots.
• UnitreeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of IKEA Furniture Assembly Grand Challenge (GC/03) for advancing mobile manipulation research.
• Nippon Origami Association (日本折紙協会)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Robotic Origami Grand Challenge (GC/02); provides expert judges for evaluating robot dexterity against human origami masters from the association.
• Toyota Central R&D LabsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Robotic Origami Grand Challenge for advancing fine-motor control research.
• LightwheelminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Robotic Origami and IKEA Assembly Grand Challenges for hardware and manipulation expertise.
• Sharpa HandsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Robotic Origami Grand Challenge for advancing robotic hand dexterity research.
• Agility RoboticsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipated in UC Berkeley Cal Hacks as speaker; co-organizer of Robotic Origami Grand Challenge.
• 1X TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipated in UC Berkeley Cal Hacks as speaker, sharing insights on humanoid robotics development.
• Singapore Institute of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of IKEA Furniture Assembly Grand Challenge for mobile manipulation research.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Scale AI: Large AI data-labeling and dataset provider serving autonomous vehicles, robotics, and government. Comparable to BitRobot as a supplier of training data to AI labs, but Scale uses human-in-the-loop labeling on contracted workforces rather than token-incentivized crowdsourced teleoperation.
• Helium: Largest DePIN network, coordinating distributed wireless hotspots with token rewards. Comparable to BitRobot as the canonical DePIN playbook applied to a new vertical (robotics); broadly demonstrates the model but does not compete directly in embodied AI.
• Physical Intelligence (Pi): Well-funded embodied AI foundation-model company building general-purpose robot brains from large proprietary datasets. Comparable to BitRobot as a competitor for embodied AI research attention and enterprise data demand, but pursues a closed/proprietary model versus BitRobot's open crowdsourced approach.

Direct peers

• GEODNET: DePIN network providing decentralized RTK GPS positioning infrastructure with token rewards to station operators. Comparable to BitRobot as a Solana-aligned DePIN network monetizing distributed physical infrastructure; GEODNET is also an active technology partner of BitRobot for robot navigation.
• Akash Network: Decentralized cloud compute marketplace that lets providers rent out idle servers. Comparable to BitRobot's resource-coordination and subnet-based marketplace model, though Akash targets general cloud workloads rather than robotics-specific resources.
• Hivemapper: DePIN network that crowdsources street-level mapping data through dashcam-equipped contributors who earn token rewards. Highly comparable to BitRobot's ET Fugi model — physical-world data generation by distributed contributors compensated in tokens — and operates in the same Solana DePIN ecosystem.
• io.net: Decentralized GPU compute network built on Solana that aggregates distributed compute for AI training and inference. Directly comparable to BitRobot as a DePIN network coordinating physical compute resources with token incentives; io.net is also an active technology/integration partner of BitRobot.
• Virtuals Protocol: Decentralized protocol for co-owning and co-training AI agents with tokenized incentives. Comparable to BitRobot as a Solana-aligned crypto/AI venture, and explicitly partnered as the co-builder of SeeSaw (SN/02) egocentric video subnet — operating as both peer and partner in the same ecosystem.
• Render Network: Decentralized GPU rendering and AI compute marketplace using token incentives on Solana. Comparable to BitRobot as a DePIN network monetizing distributed compute, though Render focuses on rendering/AI inference rather than robotics-embodied AI data coordination.

Emerging players

• Ocean Protocol: Decentralized data exchange protocol enabling data publishers to monetize datasets while preserving privacy. Comparable to BitRobot's data-licensing revenue stream and tokenized data economy, though Ocean targets general data rather than robotics-specific datasets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BitRobotNetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BitRobot