RISE Robotics raises $2.5M+ on Wefunder to revolutionize $600 billion heavy machinery industry

Robotics startup RISE Robotics has hit a major milestone: raising more than $2.5 million in commitments from over 1,100 investors on Wefunder. The company’s mission? Replace the messy, outdated hydraulic systems found in heavy machinery with something cleaner and far more efficient—Beltdraulic™.

Unlike traditional hydraulics that rely on high-pressure fluids and a maze of moving parts, Beltdraulic uses a belt-and-pulley system to deliver the same level of force without the oil, leaks, or constant maintenance. It’s a mechanical upgrade for industries that haven’t seen meaningful change in decades.

RISE is backed by Techstars, The Engine by MIT, Fortistar Capital, and now a fast-growing base of individual investors. Beltdraulic is designed to be faster, more energy-efficient, and fully digital, meaning it’s not just simpler, but also future-proof for a world leaning toward automation and remote operation.

“This moment is bigger than just the funding,” said Hiten Sonpal, CEO of RISE Robotics. “It’s about validation from the public, strategic investors, and industries we’re here to improve. Our community sees what Beltdraulic can do, and they want to be part of bringing it to the world.”

The original fundraising goal was $1.2 million. That was surpassed quickly. The team raised the cap to $1.8 million, then expanded it again after investor demand kept climbing. Now, with over $2.5 million committed, the round has far outpaced expectations.

RISE Robotics was founded in 2011 by MIT mechanical engineers Blake Sessions, Aaron Acosta, and Toomas Sepp, along with Kyle Dell’Aquila from the Rhode Island School of Design. They brought together deep technical expertise and creative thinking from the start.

Earlier on, they had a bold and slightly comic-book-fueled ambition: to build Iron Man. But their early work quickly revealed two big problems: hydraulics and gears were loud, inefficient, and structurally limiting.

As the company gained traction, they were joined by seasoned operators Tom Phelps (COO), formerly of Endeavour Robotics, iRobot, and Accion Systems, and Hiten Sonpal (CEO), who previously held leadership roles at iRobot and Electric Sheep. Both bring years of experience in scaling production and sales skills that are proving critical as RISE moves from prototype to mass deployment.

Sessions, an award-winning inventor, approached the problem differently. His design philosophy leaned on the ideas of Buckminster Fuller, especially the concept of tensegrity—an understanding of how energy flows through structures to get maximum efficiency from minimal material.

“In the beginning, the idea was that gear teeth are really inefficient structurally, because they have high pressure at small contact patches,” Acosta said in a statement.

That insight became the foundation for Beltdraulic™—a fluid-free actuation system that avoids many of the headaches associated with traditional industrial equipment.

The campaign has picked up strong momentum. Over 1,100 investors have joined so far, helping push RISE into Wefunder’s Top 10 campaigns in May. It earned a 4.7 out of 5 rating from KingsCrowd and ranked among the top 10 Reg CF raises in the U.S. that month.

With fresh capital in hand, RISE plans to speed up product development, ramp up production, and meet growing demand from manufacturers looking for something more reliable than legacy hydraulics.

The company has already pulled in over $9.1 million in revenue and is tackling a massive opportunity: replacing hydraulics in a $600 billion heavy machinery industry. And thanks to the Reg CF model, everyday investors—not just VCs—get a chance to own a piece of what’s next.

The Wefunder round is still open. But it may not be for long.