How YC-Backed Bucket Robotics Survived its First CES
How Bucket Robotics survived its first CES 2026—and turned chaos into opportunity.
Matilda
How YC-Backed Bucket Robotics Survived its First CES
Bucket Robotics CES 2026 Debut: How a YC Startup Beat the Odds What does it take for a fledgling robotics startup to make it through its first Consumer Electronics Show? For Bucket Robotics, the answer involved a packed SUV, a 12-hour rain-soaked drive, and relentless hustle on the Las Vegas show floor. Founded by former autonomous vehicle engineer Matt Puchalski and backed by Y Combinator, the San Francisco-based company arrived at CES 2026 with little more than a prototype, a dream, and a do-it-yourself booth built from airline luggage. Against all odds—and weather—they not only showed up but left with serious industry interest. Credit: Google From AV Veteran to Robotics Founder Before launching Bucket Robotics, CEO Matt Puchalski spent nearly a decade deep in the trenches of autonomous driving. His resume reads like a who’s who of the self-driving world: Uber ATG, Argo AI, Ford’s Latitude AI, and SoftBank-backed Stack AV. But after years of watching promising autonomy projects stall or…
