Bootloop recently launched!

Launch YC: BootLoop - AI Agent for Firmware & Embedded Software

"Production firmware ready in minutes."

TL;DR: All modern hardware needs firmware but it’s expensive, time-consuming and bugs in the field can lead to multi-million dollar recalls. BootLoop is building an AI agent to deliver custom firmware, fully tested on your hardware, in minutes not months. Their team built the firmware for SpaceX’s Raptor engine from first fire to flight, made brain-computer interfaces at MIT, and is embedding that experience into their agent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBI1fkx5Bss

Founded by Chris Markus & Noah Pacik-Nelson

Chris Markus (CTO) - Former lead software engineer for SpaceX's Starship booster catch system. He also built SpaceX’s Raptor engine firmware from first fire to flight. Before SpaceX, he was a visiting researcher at MIT Media Lab designing EEG electronics and firmware lead for an FDA-authorized ventilator.

Noah Pacik-Nelson (CEO) - Formerly at Accenture’s AI Refinery, he built agents for Fortune 500 companies. Prior, he researched neuromorphic computing and ultra-low power edge AI at Accenture Labs. He has patents and papers across AI adaptation, digital signal processing, and energy harvesting and was a visiting researcher at the MIT Media Lab, building brain-computer interfaces for ALS patients.

❌ The Problem

All modern hardware needs firmware, but writing firmware is hard. It’s difficult to debug and tricky to validate and chip datasheets can reach upwards of 3000 pages. On top of that, there’s a shortage of qualified firmware engineers. As hardware gets more complex, the time and cost to write firmware for it goes up exponentially.

The problems are staggering:

  • The hardware world is incredibly fractured - over 65 different major manufacturers, producing over 80,000 unique chips, each of which has different software stacks, different frameworks, and different capabilities
  • Modern hardware requires sophisticated networking stacks, power optimization, and advanced security, driving up complexity
  • Firmware engineers are hard to find - you can't major in firmware engineering - and even the most attractive engineering companies take up to 6 months to find a qualified engineer

🤖 Their Solution

The team is building an AI agent specifically for firmware and embedded software development, with the context and tooling needed to write low-level code and validate it on hardware in real-time.

Key capabilities of their Agent:

  • Deep hardware understanding: Ingests your documentation, datasheets, schematics, system diagrams, existing codebases, and more…
  • Hardware interaction: Talks directly with your boards and test equipment like oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware debuggers
  • Real testing: Validates code on actual hardware or in simulation
  • Framework expertise: Writes in your language and style using your preferred embedded frameworks and proprietary libraries
  • ITAR compliance: The first ITAR-capable coding agent, opening massive aerospace and defense markets

Pilot program: Their team will work with you as forward-deployed engineers on a specific firmware problem. They will use their agent internally to deliver aerospace-grade code FAST, with a human validating every line. After the pilot, they will deploy your custom version of the BootLoop agent for your future firmware needs.

Learn More

🌐 Visit bootloop.ai to learn more.
👐 Are you building hardware or do you know someone who is? Email the founders here to be added to the pilot program. See below for details.

👉 During the pilot, they will create your firmware FAST, using the BootLoop agent internally while reviewing every line by hand to ensure it meets their rigorous standards.
Currently Onboarding:
  • Deep tech companies
  • Aerospace & defense contractors
  • Medical device manufacturers
  • Robotics companies
  • IoT hardware developers

Posted 
July 11, 2025
 in 
Launch
 category
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