Nvidia veteran Amulya Vishwanath launches Techable VC to back “physical AI” beyond robots

Amulya Vishwanath, who spent seven years leading product marketing for NVIDIA’s robotics platforms, has announced the formation of Techable VC, a venture fund that will invest in what she calls “physical AI.” In a recent interview on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Vishwanath argued that robotics is still in a foundational “Lego era,” with core components such as actuators, robotic hands, software stacks and safety standards being rebuilt from the ground up. Her assessment runs counter to a growing narrative that a single, general-purpose foundation model will soon give robotics its own “ChatGPT moment,” making today’s specialized solutions obsolete.

Vishwanath’s perspective is shaped by her tenure at NVIDIA, where she helped shape the company’s approach to robotics hardware and software integration. As one of the first women executives to spin out of NVIDIA and launch an independent early-stage firm, she brings both technical depth and a founder’s mindset to the venture capital space. Techable VC’s mandate, according to Vishwanath, spans three intersecting domains: robotics, materials science and life sciences. By targeting the physical layer of artificial intelligence, the fund aims to back startups that are building the tangible building blocks required for more capable autonomous systems.

The “Lego era” framing underscores a belief that the industry’s progress will be incremental, driven by the maturation of hardware components and the establishment of robust safety standards. This view contrasts sharply with the optimism expressed by General Intuition CEO Pim de Witte, who told Equity earlier this year that a single, general foundation model could render much of today’s specialized robotics work redundant, delivering a breakthrough akin to the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. Vishwanath’s caution suggests that investors and founders should temper expectations of a rapid, model-driven disruption and instead focus on the steady evolution of physical components.

For founders operating at the intersection of AI and hardware, Vishwanath’s fund represents a potential source of capital that understands the unique challenges of physical product development. Early-stage companies often struggle to secure funding that appreciates the longer timelines and higher capital intensity associated with building actuators, sensors and compliant safety frameworks. Techable VC’s emphasis on materials science and life sciences further broadens the scope, signaling interest in innovations such as bio-compatible robotics, advanced manufacturing materials and AI-enabled medical devices.

Investors watching the space may find Vishwanath’s thesis a useful counterweight to the hype surrounding foundation models. While large language models have demonstrated impressive capabilities in software-only contexts, the translation of those advances into real-world, embodied systems still requires robust hardware foundations. By betting on the incremental rebuilding of those foundations, Techable VC positions itself to capture value as the industry moves from prototype to production-grade solutions.

Looking ahead, Vishwanath expects the “Lego era” to give way to more modular, interoperable components that can be mixed and matched across applications. She anticipates that as standards coalesce and component costs drop, the barrier to entry for new robotics and AI-enabled physical products will lower, opening opportunities for a broader set of founders. The success of Techable VC’s early investments will likely serve as a barometer for how quickly the industry can transition from building blocks to fully integrated, intelligent machines.