US industrial-robotics startup Nexterity unveiled a compact remote-controlled bolted-flange robot at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on September 24, aiming to replace the physically punishing work of pipefitting in oil, gas, water treatment, mining and nuclear facilities.
An ex-ExxonMobil engineer's answer to a pipefitter shortage
Founder Lindsey Elliott, a former ExxonMobil engineer, said the design targets the most repetitive, injury-prone task in industrial piping: tightening or loosening the four bolts on a standard bolted flange joint. Nexterity's battery-powered tool does all four at once and fits inside a Pelican case, with configurations for standard NPS2 through NPS8 pipe sizes. Elliott is pitching the robot to plant operators struggling to hire in a North American pipefitting labor market that the American Society of Mechanical Engineers has flagged as chronically undersupplied.
Portable, remote, and pitched at brownfield sites
Unlike fixed cell-based automation, Nexterity is designed to be carried into brownfield sites and swapped between joints. Elliott said the company is talking to oil and gas majors, water utilities and nuclear operators, all of whom face rising OSHA scrutiny on ergonomic injuries from repeated wrench work. The startup did not disclose funding but is competing in Startup Battlefield 200. Related: Epson Debuts AX6 Cobot With Cleanroom Class-5 Design And No-Code Programming and Hello Robot brings Stretch 4 mobile manipulator to TechCrunch Disrupt stage.
Reporting based on coverage from TechCrunch.