Underwater Robots From a Country Without a Sea: Jonas Wüst, Tethys Robotics (EP#568)
July 9, 2026
Co-produced by
Co-produced by
07:09 – Building a Startup With Seven Co-Founders
19:02 – Where Underwater Robots Create Value
26:16 – Why Zurich Works for Robotics
39:57 – Scaling Tethys Beyond Switzerland
Episode description:
Jonas Wüst is the CEO and Co-founder of Tethys Robotics, an ETH Zurich spin-off building robots for difficult underwater environments. The company started as a student project and has since grown into a startup working on missions where visibility is poor, currents are strong, and sending people underwater can be risky or expensive.
In this episode, Jonas shares what it was like to build the company with six other co-founders who had already worked together for years. He talks about why that unusual setup became a strength, how his role changed when he became CEO, and why Tethys decided to put more intelligence directly into the robot instead of using it only as a tool for collecting data.
We also get into what it takes to build a robotics company from Switzerland. Jonas explains how grants helped the team get through the early stages, why investor relationships need to start well before a funding round, and where the financing gets harder as deeptech companies grow. He also shares why Zurich still makes sense as a base, even without direct access to the sea.
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