Trevor Blackwell

Trevor Blackwell
Trevor Blackwell
Born	November 4, 1969 (age 57); Canada
Occupation(s)	Engineer, computer programmer, entrepreneur, robotics specialist
Years active	1990s–present
Known for	Founder of Anybots, partner at Y Combinator

Trevor Blackwell (born November 4, 1969, in Canada) is a Canadian-American engineer, computer programmer, entrepreneur, and robotics specialist currently residing in England. He is recognized for his work in humanoid robot development, founding and previously leading Anybots, as well as being a partner at Y Combinator.

Life and career

Raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Blackwell obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Carleton University in 1992. He later earned a PhD in Computer Science from Harvard University in 1998, where his research concentrated on employing randomized techniques to evaluate network and compiler performance.

During his doctoral studies, Blackwell became part of the Viaweb team, contributing to software for image rendering, order management, and analytics. Following Yahoo’s acquisition of Viaweb in 1998, he moved to Silicon Valley to oversee the development of the Yahoo Store platform.

In 2001, he established Anybots, aiming to produce teleoperated humanoid robots. By 2006, the company had launched a humanoid robot capable of walking and maintaining balance without depending on oversized feet for support.

Blackwell also engineered two self-balancing vehicles: a two-wheeled scooter resembling the Segway but featuring a distinctive steering mechanism, and the self-balancing Eunicycle, whose open-source design has influenced numerous enthusiast projects.

In 2005, Blackwell co-founded Y Combinator.

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