Marko Bjelonic
Marko Bjelonic is a robotics engineer, researcher, and entrepreneur, currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of RIVR, a Swiss robotics company focused on General Physical AI for last-mile delivery. He was born in 1990 in the former Yugoslavia and moved to Germany with his family during the civil war in the 1990s. He completed his education across Germany, Norway, and Australia, building a strong international academic foundation in mechanical engineering and robotics.
Marko earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Technische Universität Darmstadt, followed by two Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from theNorwegian University of Science and Technology(NTNU) and Technische Universität Darmstadt. He later completed his Doctor of Science (PhD) in Robotics at ETH Zurich, one of the world’s leading universities in robotics research. During his PhD, he was one of the first doctoral students in the Robotic Systems Lab under Professor Marco Hutter, where he worked extensively on legged and wheeled-legged robots.
His research contributions include pioneering hybrid locomotion systems that combine wheels and legs, leading to patented technology that significantly improves energy efficiency and mobility on varied terrain. He also contributed to one of the earliest uses of artificial neural networks on legged robots, helping advance the field of Physical AI. Marko played a key role in the development of the ANYmal quadrupedal robot and was part of the winning team of the third DARPA Robotics Challenge, a major global robotics competition.
After completing his PhD, Marko continued at ETH Zurich as a postdoctoral researcher and researcher across multiple national research programmes, including NCCR Robotics and NCCR Digital Fabrication. Alongside academia, he gained business experience by managing and successfully selling his family company.
In 2024, he co-founded RIVR, formerly known as Swiss-Mile, with backing from prominent investors including Jeff Bezos. The company focuses on autonomous robots designed to operate in real-world urban environments, aiming to transform last-mile delivery through General Physical AI. Marko has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in leading robotics journals and conferences, covering hybrid locomotion, motion planning, whole-body control, and real-world robotic deployment.
