Jonas Gruetter

Founder @ Grip (YC S26) and passionate roboticist

[Grip @griprobotics]

Grip builds intelligent robots that pick the trash existing sorting machines can't.

Robotic manipulation just started working. Foundation models can now grasp the deformable, entangled, never-before-seen objects that waste streams are full of, on hardware that's finally cheap enough to make the economics work. We install modular robotic cells and every pick makes the whole fleet smarter.

We start with plastic contamination in organic waste, then expand to every stream where machines still leave the hard objects to humans. Grip is becoming the general manipulation platform for global waste infrastructure.

Founded by robotics engineers from ETH Zürich. Backed by Y Combinator (S26).

[Jared Friedman @snowmaker]

Take a minute to watch this video; it's a cool one. This is not some AI generated video; this is the actual robot the Grip founders built, sorting real trash, at 1x speed.

[Dhaval Kapadia @Dhaval_AIforBiz]

Starting with trash sorting is a smart move because yes, it is one of the messiest manipulation problems out there!

If the fleet actually gets smarter with every pick, the real business here isn’t limited to waste management, it’s the manipulation platform underneath it.

Congratulations on the launch!

[Jonas Gruetter @Jonnygrutt]

Amazing few days at YC. Now back with the robot. The team has been absolutely cooking.

[Raphael Schaad @raphaelschaad]

Caught up backstage w ClawFather @steipete; this is a packed one:

* Loops, Graphs, and Florps — what's latest in agentic engineering?

* Outie vs. Innie — avoid his personal vs. work agent fighting?

* Startup ideas in 2026 — what to build?

Lots of incredible zingers in here:

[Jonas Gruetter @Jonnygrutt]

@hambleton_j I just did DM you on linkedin! Grip founder here