Success Story: Bubble Robotics

Unlocking the Blue Economy with Bubble Robotics

Location: Northern California | San Francisco County | San Francisco

Business Type: Robotics / Ocean Technology / Climate Tech

Small Business Center: Humanmade

Assistance Received: Business advising and access to capital

California State Assembly Districts: 19 

California State Senate District: 11 

Visit Bubble Robotics online

Patricia Apostol & Jean Crosetti met through a shared ambition to apply aerospace-grade tech to ocean challenges. “Bubble Robotics is building the autonomous workforce for the ocean,” said Particia and Jean. “Our constellation of resident subsea robots lives at sea, inspecting offshore infrastructure, monitoring ecosystems, and securing critical assets continuously, without costly vessels or divers. Founded by alumni of NASA JPL and ETH Zürich, the team brings frontier space and robotics expertise underwater to unlock the $3 trillion blue economy.”

To support their vision, the cofounders connected with Humanmade, a CalOSBA partner that provides a wide range of industrial workshops where members can take training courses and use equipment to build or make almost anything. They also offer an intensive manufacturing skills training program and a hardware accelerator for startups.

Patricia and Jean shared that, as a hardware startup working under tight timelines, they faced a major challenge: building a complex underwater robot from scratch while preparing for a major demo day. The makerspace provided them with an exceptional range of prototyping tools, including laser cutters, 3D printers, advanced soldering stations, and electronics benches, that they simply couldn’t afford or access elsewhere. Humanmade also gave them on-the-ground technical mentorship: from training on new fabrication techniques to troubleshooting when systems failed.

“Thanks to their support, we built and showcased a working prototype in time for our accelerator’s demo day,” said Patricia and Jean. “That event unlocked key investor conversations, design partner relationships and lined up paid pilots. Their assistance directly enabled our hardware development timeline and was foundational to our early traction.

“We owe a huge part of our first success to the makerspace. Without their equipment, mentorship, and flexibility, especially as they were preparing to move out, we wouldn’t have hit our critical demo deadline. They truly made our hardware possible.

“…Having access to precision equipment was essential and the staff who assisted us often late into the evenings. That blend of infrastructure and community is what makes a makerspace transformative for early-stage teams like ours.”

Learn more about how Bubble Robotics is building subsea “constellations” of long-endurance robots that live in the water, autonomously inspect offshore infrastructure, and help detect problems before they become costly failures here.

And, if you’re a maker in the Bay Area who needs support, workspaces, and a great community of other makers and fabricators of all types, connect with Humanmade here.

9/26/2025