Alt Bionics founder and CEO Ryan Saavedra discusses building affordable bionic hands for amputees and robots with Ilir Aliu on 22Astronauts.
Saavedra says science fiction, video games, and sports shaped his early interests, though he began college without a clear plan and left after poor grades. An astronomy class showed him how math could explain the real world, and a Java course sparked his interest in robotics. He advises students to explore subjects that catch their attention, even if the route feels uncertain.
After a climbing injury left Saavedra unable to use his hand for about six months, he built a moving mechanical finger with cardboard, yarn, an Arduino, and a flex sensor. The project led him to investigate prosthetic control and the high cost of advanced devices. For a college project, his team built a $600 hand with six sensors and an AI control system; meeting an injured Army veteran using it helped motivate him to focus on Alt Bionics.
Alt Bionics aims to serve prosthetics and robotics with related designs, including a hand with six degrees of freedom and a layout designed to support 14. Saavedra emphasizes modular fingers that can be replaced in about three minutes, helping reduce downtime. He says the robotic hand costs about $11,000, and estimates a typical lifespan of one to three years depending on use; replacement fingers are expected to cost $600 to $1,000.
Saavedra learned fundraising and company operations through incubators, accelerators, research, and repeated pitches to investors. Alt Bionics began with about $5,000 from a GoFundMe and family support, and has operated on less than $2 million in angel investment. He says he was initially uncomfortable pitching, but grew more capable by taking on situations that felt unfamiliar.
Saavedra describes early co-founder mismatches and says hiring improved as he learned which skills the company needed. He interviewed about 46 mechanical engineers before hiring two, and used advice from his father, startup programs, and AI tools to help assess business hires. He urges founders to find people who share the mission and to seek help when their own skills are not enough.
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Ryan Saavedra, CEO and founder of Unlimited Bionics, explains how the company designs and prices bionic hands for people with limb loss and humanoid robots, speaking at the Humanoids Summit.
