Salem Robotics

Why it fits

Nuclear sites must run routine radiation surveys and largely do them by hand. Salem sells software for robots sites may already own, touching robotics and energy without building hardware. Both founders co-authored a February 2024 paper on robot radiation surveys.

Stage and round

A Form D filed on 8 September 2026 reports $1,819,500 sold of a $5,100,000 SAFE offering to 5 unnamed investors, first sale 13 May 2026. Y Combinator lists the company in its Summer 2026 batch. Non Sibi Ventures is the only other investor confirmed by its own pages (a $25,000 Rice prize investment in April 2026, and it says it backed the company beyond that, no amount given).

Ask on the first call

1. 01Which facilities have signed a paid validation, at what price, and has any converted into an ongoing deployment? The Launch HN post names no customer.
2. 02Who are the 5 SAFE investors and what are the caps? How much did Non Sibi invest beyond the $25,000 Rice prize, and is Goose Capital an investor?
3. 03Incorporated in 2024 per the Form D, first SAFE sale 13 May 2026. What happened in between, and do UT Austin or Los Alamos hold any rights?
4. 04The launch post claims theoretical safety guarantees. What exactly is guaranteed, and has any site radiation protection program or regulator accepted robot-generated survey records as compliance records?

Risks

• –No source shows a signed customer, a paid validation or a deployment. The company's 4 August 2026 launch post speaks of "active contract-scoping conversations" in nuclear and oil and gas.
• –The product is a software layer on other companies' robots. A robot maker could move into this layer. The founders' Launch HN post asks where the line should sit.
• –Public records do not line up. Y Combinator says founded 2026 in San Francisco with a team of 2. The Form D says incorporated 2024 with an Austin address.

Could not confirm

• ?The company site shows a Goose Capital logo. No Goose Capital page found confirms an investment, and Rice's 2026 results list its prizes going to other companies.
• ?Non Sibi Ventures says both founders hold top-secret clearances, not confirmed by any primary source.
• ?The launch post says the manipulation framework rests on founder research published in IEEE journals and conferences. Those papers were not located.