Konnex, a pioneer in the decentralization of autonomous labor, said it raised $15 million in funding from a consortium of high-conviction strategic partners.
The investment will accelerate the company’s mission to unlock the $25 trillion physical work economy by transitioning autonomous robots from closed, proprietary systems into a seamless, app-like ecosystem. With backing from industry veterans and top-tier VCs, Konnex wants to usher in a new era of decentralized labor where autonomous robots are contracted, verified, and paid like software. It’s a very unusual vision of the future of robots, tied to decentralized views of ownership and blockchain technology.
The round features prominent backing from venture firms, including Cogitent Ventures, Liquid Capital, Leland Ventures, Covey, LD Capital, M77 Ventures and Block Maven LLC.
“Physical work is a $25 trillion economy currently trapped in closed systems,” said Jon Ollwerther, CEO of Konnex, in a statement. “With the support of our partners, Konnex is building the key to unlock that value. We are creating a world where autonomous robots work like apps—contracted, verified, and paid—to provide the scalable labor the world desperately needs.”
Despite a spate of major recent innovations around robotics and AI, work remains trapped in siloed infrastructures. Konnex is breaking these barriers by introducing a framework where autonomous robots function like applications: easily contracted, verified on-chain, and paid instantly. This “robotics-as-a-service” evolution ensures labor can be deployed and scaled with the same fluidity as software.
Konnex is led by an elite team of veterans whose vast experience spans the robotics, drone technology, and capital markets sectors, including:
- Jon Ollwerther, CEO: A “40 Under 40” honoree with 15 years of experience in robotics and media. Ollwerther previously led commercial teams at Measure and Aerobo, and sits on the board of The Stan Lee Foundation.
- Brandon Torres Declet, strategic supporter: A five-time CEO and founder; and executive in the drone, robotics, and defense sectors, currently serving as CEO of Exyn Technologies and co-founder of ReadyMonitor. Declet has successfully led companies like AgEagle Aerial Systems, where he raised over $100 million and drove key acquisitions, and Measure, which became North America’s largest drone service provider under his leadership.
- Lucas Van Oostrum, strategic adviser: A drone-swarm pioneer and multi-robot coordination expert. Van Oostrum co-founded Nova Sky Stories with Kimbal Musk and co-launched the €100M RoboValley Fund.
The new capital will be used to expand the Konnex platform, integrate with new hardware partners, and further develop the verification protocols that allow autonomous systems to operate safely and efficiently in the real world.
Konnex has less than 20 people, and it was started in May 2025. The firm announced its first product features in September 2025, and it recently announced a pre-seed round which was backed by Brandon Torres-Declet in a $3.5 million round.
Blockchain is the banking and legal system for robots. Since machines cannot open bank accounts or sign legal paper, the company uses the chain to solve three critical problems:
Identity & Banking: It gives every robot a wallet to hold funds and settle contracts in USD stablecoins instantly, without intermediaries.
Trustless Coordination: It acts as an escrow service. The smart contract holds the money and only releases it when the work is verified.
Proof-of-Physical-Work (PoPW): We use the ledger to cryptographically verify sensor data (GPS, torque, logs), proving the physical job was actually done before unlocking payment.
Konnex is a permissionless network, not a fleet operator. The robots are owned by:
• Enterprises (logistics fleets, drone operators like ReadyMonitor).
• Individuals (home robot owners).
• DAOs/Municipalities (public utility robots).
Owners simply “plug” their hardware into Konnex to monetize it, similar to how Uber drivers own their cars but use the network to find work.
The mission is to build the GDP of autonomous systems. The company is starting with autonomous drones through a strategic partnership with ReadyMonitor (a drone dock orchestration platform).
Konnex provides the economic execution layer that their stack is missing. By integrating with Konnex, their drone fleets gain the ability to autonomously verify task completion (via a Proof-of-Physical-Work) and trigger instant settlement in USD stablecoins. This removes the billing bottleneck and turns their ‘remote operations’ into a fully autonomous, revenue-generating economy.