K-Scale Labs

K-Scale Labs developed open-source humanoid robots and software intended to make robotics accessible to developers and enthusiasts. Its early Stompy design was a four-foot humanoid with parts sized for a desktop 3D printer and a claw gripper for manipulating objects. K-Bot followed as a humanoid developer platform, with a public repository covering mechanical and electrical designs, operating-system integration and policy inference. The company also built tools for training control policies in simulation and transferring them to physical robots.

Founded in 2024, K-Scale’s founders included Benjamin Bolte and Matthew Freed; Bolte served as CEO and had previously worked on robotics foundation models at Tesla and Meta AI. Its engineering work included K-Sim, a reinforcement-learning library built on MuJoCo and JAX for training humanoid locomotion and manipulation policies. This paired accessible hardware designs with software for developing robot behavior.

Before its closure, the company reported more than 130 preorders, representing $2 million in booked order value, and five robots in customer hands in October 2025. K-Scale Labs’ November 2025 shutdown followed failed financing; customers were told it could not fulfill their orders and would refund deposits. Discussions about selling to 1X Technologies and The Bot Company did not result in a transaction.