Investing in Gecko Robotics | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares

Gecko Robotics continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring that vital infrastructure remains intact. The company consistently pushes the boundaries of robotics design with its devices, which can scale walls, swim, and fly. Today, Gecko Robotics serves Fortune 500 companies, the US military, and its allies, helping them ensure they remain operationally ready.

All of these factors continue to drive interest in Gecko robotics shares. However, the company has not listed any IPO plans publicly. As such, you can’t go to a regular broker to gain access to these assets. Instead, you will need to navigate the secondary market if you want to add Gecko Robotics shares to your portfolio. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Gecko Robotics?

Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics entered the market in 2013 after Jake Loosararian and Troy Demmer decided that they could use their education to help improve safety while reducing the workload of human inspectors. They noted that maintaining infrastructure is crucial for smooth operations across multiple industries.

Gecko Robotics has been revolutionary in the robotics sector due to its unique approach. The company’s name is inspired by the Geckos the founders saw as they traveled. This inspiration helped them to launch their prototypes. These devices featured magnetic wheels and suction cups that allowed them to scale walls like real geckos.

Modular Designs

The engineers took their concept a step further when they incorporated a modular design. This step allowed their clients to customize the robots to suit their needs. They could include crucial sensors such as IR cameras, ultrasonics, lasers, chemical sensors, and more. This approach allows the bots to perform real-time, comprehensive data collection.

Gecko Robotics’ innovative designs secured it a spot in Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch. This maneuver allowed the company to access mentorship, additional funding, and expertise. It also raised investor interest and helped to secure the company as an up-and-coming robotics firm.

Gecko Robotics began securing high-level partnerships and more investment capital after joining the Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch. These partnerships extended across the energy, defense, and manufacturing sectors. Specifically, the firm inked deals with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, top-rated Fortune 500 companies, and the US Navy.

Cantilever

The Cantilever operating system is one of the main reasons why Gecko Robotics is considered an industry leader. This system was the first AI robotics infrastructure maintenance algorithm. The system enables the robots to make split-second assessments and share their data with the rest of the network.

The operating system can take on critical tasks like determining if there are any explosive risks. It can also handle business-related tasks like optimizing operations to reduce costs by 5%. This software has even been used to help modernize some of the most advanced craft in the US military, like the C-130. Today, the system focuses on modernizing and monitoring critical infrastructure.

Historical Funding Rounds

Gecko Robotics’ funding progression from 2014 to 2025, culminating in a $125M Series D round, with growing institutional and corporate investor support across multiple rounds.

Summary of Gecko Robotics Funding:

Total Funding: Gecko Robotics secured $354M across 8 funding rounds

Largest Round: Gecko Robotics’ largest funding round secured $125M on May 15, 2025.

Investors: A total of 26 institutional investors and 3 Angel investors back Gecko Robotics

Latest Round: The latest funding round raised  $125M and was a Series D round held on May 15, 2025.

Funding Rounds Breakdown:

• 2 Seed
• 3 Early Stage
• 3 Late Stage

Key Investors:

Gecko Robotics received financial support from Drive Capital, Founders Fund, Usit Fund, Cox Enterprises, USIT, XN, Founders Fund, and YCombinator.

Why Invest in Gecko Robotics?

There are many reasons why investors continue to show interest in Gecko Robotics. For one, its commitment to innovation remains unwavering. The company has been creative in its solutions to serious issues that could cost lives. These risks are heightened when discussing the company’s role in the modernization of the US and allied militaries.

Gecko Robotics has Competitive Positioning

Gecko Robotics ranks 1st against 78 competitors in the industrial infrastructure robotics sector. This positioning is due to the company’s unique products and advanced AI options that streamline monitoring and tracking data across massive networks. The top militaries in the world rely on Gecko Robotics devices to keep their operations running smoothly.

Safety of Public Infrastructure

Politicians often joke that infrastructure maintenance, repairs, and asset management are not going to win any elections. However, they are a critical aspect of running a society, business, or military. Gecko Robotics enables companies to optimize crucial aspects of energy and manufacturing facilities. The devices are capable of monitoring hazardous or hard-to-reach locations for days at a time, reducing the need for human inspectors.

Gecko Robotics is 10x Faster

Another benefit is that Gecko Robotics can provide safety data faster than previous methods. The company boasts that its operating system and robots can offer 1,000 times more data than manual methods. Additionally, their data is more accurate and complete, and offers deeper insights into the overall health of the infrastructure.

Gecko Robotics is Recognized as a Leader

Gecko Robotics has received numerous accolades for its innovative work in the fields of AI and robotics. The company was recently listed on CNBC’s prestigious Disruptor 50. Notably, the firm received the same award last year and was a featured presentation. The award highlighted the company’s critical role in keeping people safe.

Key Partnerships

Gecko’s partnerships are another reason why investors have a lot of faith in this project. The company has high-level agreements in place with the US Navy, NAES,  L3 Harris, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. These agreements mean that Gecko Robotics units hold crucial positions monitoring the safety of power plants, warships, and vital structures.

Funding and Investor data sourced from Tracxn

1. Pre-IPO Secondary Marketplace

Secondary markets are purpose-built exchanges that connect pre-IPO shareholders with potential investors. These marketplaces can offer these assets because they work closely with employees, early-stage investors, and venture capitalists, who are crucial to the company’s pre-IPO growth.

Investing in pre-IPO shares of Gecko Robotics could offer strong returns if the company’s valuation increases following its IPO. It’s common for company valuations to increase following an IPO. As such, it makes sense to add pre-IPO shares to your portfolio before the firm announces plans to go public.

Secondary marketplaces have many requirements. Here are some concerns you should be made aware of:

Eligibility: This approach requires you to be an accredited investor, meaning you will have to show at least $1M in liquid assets to qualify for access.

2. Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms gain access to pre-IPO shares during investment rounds. They then offer these shares to high-net-worth accredited investors with a commission. Notably, private equity firms are known to have extra stipulations, including blocking the sale of shares for years in some cases.

3. Employee Equity Sales

Many consider employee equity sales as the best way to acquire pre-IPO shares in Gecko Robotics. This method of acquiring pre-IPO shares requires you to connect with former employees. It’s common for companies to issue shares as part of an incentive package. Notably, this profit-sharing method has become more popular, leading to more pre-IPO share opportunities for investors.

Private Transactions: There are a lot of hoops you will need to jump through to complete a private pre-IPO transaction, including creating specific legal agreements, conducting valuations, and setting in place any limitations on the transfer of the asset.

Brokerage: Brokers will take a lot of the confusion out of the pre-IPO process. These professionals can guide you through each step, ensuring full compliance and avoiding common errors untrained professionals make.

There are several risks that you should consider before jumping into the pre-IPO shares investment arena. Here are the top concerns:

Liquidity Risk

If you are looking for an asset that you can sell right away, pre-IPO shares are not the best option.

These investments can include sales and transfer clauses that prevent the transfer of the asset until certain criteria, such as the IPO’s completion, are met. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Finding a Broker

If you meet the requirements and are comfortable with the risks, several platforms offer access to pre-IPO opportunities:

Forge Global: One of the largest private stock marketplaces, offering shares in late-stage startups like SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks. Minimums typically start around $100,000.

EquityZen: A popular platform allowing accredited investors to buy into private companies with minimums as low as $5,000. Past offerings include companies like Discord and UiPath.

Rainmaker Securities: A full-service broker that helps source and negotiate private share sales, including opportunities in companies like OpenAI, Stripe, and Palantir.

Hiive: A newer platform with live bid/ask pricing for hundreds of private companies. Transparent and low-fee, with minimums starting around $25,000.

MicroVentures: Offers pooled access to late-stage companies through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), including past investments in SpaceX and Instacart.

EquityBee: Allows investors to fund employee stock option exercises at startups, often at discounted valuations, with minimums around $10,000.

Augment: A digital-first marketplace showing real-time pricing for pre-IPO shares, targeting tech-savvy investors and offering lower transaction fees.

StartEngine Private: Launched in late 2023, this platform offers accredited investors access to Regulation D offerings in later-stage, venture-backed companies. In its first nine months, it generated $16.5 million in revenue, with average investments around $32,000

Important: Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor before investing in private company shares.

Valuation of Gecko Robotics and Future IPO

Gecko Robotics recently received a $1.25B valuation, qualifying the company for Unicorn status. This valuation was more than double the company’s March 2022 valuation of $533M. The firm managed to secure Unicorn status through its determination and goal to make crucial aspects of infrastructure safer and easier to monitor.

The company’s AI integration has helped to automate vital steps in the maintenance process, and its devices can now fly, swim, crawl, and walk up walls, enabling full-spectrum analysis. In the future, these devices will gain even more capabilities thanks to the company’s commitment to improving their AI operations.

Despite not sharing any IPO aspirations, many analysts believe Gecko Robotics is in the perfect situation to go public. The company has strong support from the traditional and private sectors. Additionally, it has high-level partnerships with some of the most powerful organizations in the world.

Gecko Robotics Conclusion

Those who seek exposure to the AI and robotics sector should do more research into Gecko Robotics. The company’s positioning and forward-looking stance could equal financial gains in the coming months, especially as infrastructure concerns continue to rise.

It’s recommended that you consult a financial expert before making any pre-IPO investments. There’s no guarantee that share prices will rise following an IPO announcement. For those who complete this task and find that Gecko Robotics is a smart fit, there is significant upside potential as the company is set to continue expanding operations across the power generation, oil and gas, manufacturing, and defense sectors.

Learn about Other Pre-IPO Opportunities Now

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Pre-IPO shares are typically available only to accredited investors and carry significant risk. Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor or legal expert before making investment decisions.