Pickle Robot just grabbed a seasoned finance executive to steer its growth at a critical moment. Jeff Evanson, who spent six years at Tesla handling investor relations and capital strategy, is now the warehouse robotics startup's first CFO. The timing is deliberate: just days after Bloomberg reported a $120 million UPS partnership that will put 400 of Pickle's unloading robots into the package delivery giant's network.
The robotics startup Pickle Robot is making its clearest signal yet that it's ready for prime time. The Charlestown, Massachusetts-based company announced Thursday that it has promoted Jeff Evanson from consultant to chief financial officer - its first executive in that role.
Evanson brings serious pedigree. For six years at Tesla, from 2011 to 2017, he ran global investor relations and strategy, working directly with Elon Musk on the financing pieces that mattered most. His job was helping Tesla raise the debt and equity needed to launch new vehicle lines and close acquisitions. That's exactly the kind of capital-raising muscle Pickle needs right now.
The timing tells you everything. Evanson's appointment lands just days after Bloomberg reported that UPS is sinking $120 million into Pickle's technology. The shipping giant is buying 400 of the company's autonomous unloading robots, with the first deployments hitting UPS facilities in late 2026 and early 2027. That's not a pilot. That's a bet.
Pickle's autonomous robots are built to do the grunt work of warehouse logistics - unloading trucks and handling pallets with precision. In an era where labor is expensive and inconsistent, that's become table stakes in logistics. The startup has been quietly building relationships with major players in the space. A Pickle spokesperson confirmed that UPS has been a customer for a few years but wouldn't disclose when exactly the partnership started. The new deal, though, suggests those early tests worked.
The company itself was founded in 2018 and has pulled in approximately $100 million in venture capital to get to this point. That's a decent war chest, but not enormous. Bringing in a CFO who understands how to talk to institutional investors and structure capital rounds at scale suggests Pickle's planning its next move. Series B? Maybe a path toward profitability? With a $120 million customer order on the books, the story suddenly becomes a lot easier to tell to VCs and debt holders.
Evanson will need every bit of that Tesla experience. The logistics robotics space is heating up. Amazon has been investing heavily in its own robotic systems through Kiva and other acquisitions. Startups like have pivoted toward warehouse automation. The competition for big logistics partnerships is real. But Pickle's apparently winning with , one of the world's largest package handlers, which gives it credibility in a crowded market.
