What we bring
Safe autonomy for machines that could not afford it.
Today the protective stop runs through a chain of safety-rated hardware. Yona's stop function is designed to do it in software, on standard sensors.
With a licence targeted from €2,000 per robot, it opens a market the hardware kept closed: lighter machines, starting with hospital meal carts.
Today
€5,000 to €12,000
per robot, safety-rated hardware
- Two safety laser scanners
- A safety controller and its network
- Safety encoders
- Field engineering
With Yona
from €2,000
per robot, licence target
- A software stop function on standard sensors
- A microcontroller on the safe torque off (STO) and brake inputs
Company estimate from 2026 list prices. The licence price is a target.
Product
Determinism for safety, AI for performance.
-
Advanced Perception
Understands the sceneDeep learning that labels people, carts and vehicles
Learned, so it stays out of the safety path.
-
Smart Navigation
Plans the route and adaptsRe-plans when something changes and yields to predicted crossings
It predicts where anything moving will be in two seconds, before knowing what it is.
-
Safe Perception
Commands the protective stopA separate certifiable layer: a deterministic function on the measured map
Designed to IEC 61508 SIL 2, with no learned component. Indoor machines first.
Certification
First certificate targeted for Q1 2028.
The stop function is designed to IEC 61508 SIL 2, for EU type-examination by a notified body. Until the certificate, machines keep their own safety devices.
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Separate safety layer, no learned component in the safety path | In place |
| Measured map with a computable error rate | In place |
| Safety concept and safety plan | In place |
| Safety concept submitted to a notified body | In progress |
| EU type-examination certificate | Target Q1 2028 |
| Scope today | Indoor machines, 2D protective field |
| Outdoor and defence machines | Yona navigation and ground-shape estimation; their own safety systems, where fitted, stay in charge |
For CTOs
Perception and navigation
Safety
Safety concept under NDA: contact@yona-robotics.com
Projects
What customers build with Yona.
A maker of hospital meal carts
Autonomy in corridors shared with staff and patients.
A French defence programme
Navigation for an off-road robot; its own safety systems stay in charge.
Heavy-load carriers and outdoor robots
Carriers for an aerospace plant, with their maker. An outdoor robot maker had Yona running on its machine in two days.
Why now
On 20 January 2027, software becomes a safety component.
That day the EU Machinery Regulation replaces the Machinery Directive, for every new machine.
Safety software can then be sold on its own, as a safety component, like a safety laser scanner. Yona's stop function has no machine learning in it: its behaviour is fixed and testable. The learned layers above it keep improving.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.
Team
Industrial automation, critical software, functional safety.
Founded in Grenoble in 2025, on ten years of Inria research. Three patent families under exclusive Inria licence; a fourth, on the stop function, has been filed.
David GualinoCo-founder, CEO. Arts et Métiers, Mines Paris. Saint-Gobain, PSA, Schneider Electric.Strategy, funding
Houssem MeghnoudjCo-founder, CTO. PhD in control systems and AI.Product, industrialisation
Maurice PitelCo-founder, COO. Thirty-five years in critical software.Operations, customer projects
Véronique DelebarreFunctional safety and cybersecurity. Founder of SafeRiver.Certification
Evan BourgouinCo-founder (2026), CRO.Revenue, partnerships
Christian LaugierScientific adviser. Inria Research Director Emeritus.ScienceStrategic committee: Daniel Pilaud (former CEO of Polyspace, venture partner at Elaia) and Laurent Julliard (Google Cloud, formerly Schneider Electric).
Contact
Meet us at Slush, Helsinki, 18 and 19 November 2026.
Two of the founders will be there.
- David GualinoCo-founder, CEOLinkedIn (David Gualino, opens in a new tab)
- Evan BourgouinCo-founder, CROLinkedIn (Evan Bourgouin, opens in a new tab)