Nohtal Partansky

Y’all gotta know about Nohtal Partansky, this guy’s the real deal. He’s a straight-up tech whiz who’s been crushing it across aerospace, robotics, and now the cannabis world. Nohtal’s story is totally inspiring because he’s someone who jumps into big problems and figures out how to fix ’em, no bullshit.

So, he kicked off his process with solid creds, studied Mechanical Engineering at UC Davis, then went on to get a Master’s in Aerospace from Georgia Tech. The dude’s always been into pushing boundaries, right? He then jumped into the aerospace scene, working at XCOR Aerospace and even at JPL with NASA. Yeah, NASA. He was the lead engineer on the MOXIE instrument, that’s the thing that produces oxygen on Mars. Holy shit, talk about dreaming big. That’s some advanced engineering stuff, and it shows he’s not afraid of tackling huge, complex problems.

But here’s where it gets even more interesting. After leaving JPL in 2018, most people might kick back, but Nohtal jumped into starting companies. First, he did inventory management robotics for e-commerce, basically trying to automate boring warehouse stuff. But then, he pivoted hard into cannabis automation after getting into Y Combinator’s W19 batch. That’s when he co-founded Sorting Robotics, which is all about automating the cannabis industry, making sure growers and processors can do more with less bullshit, faster, smarter. He also started Rise Co-Packing in Oakland, helping with cannabis packaging, the dude’s all about making that industry more fast.

What’s crazy is, his background screams innovation, aerospace, robotics, automation, and he’s now applying all that genius to a totally different industry, cannabis, which is kinda wild but super smart. He’s got this vision to automate repetitive tasks so people can focus on the creative, human stuff, that’s his whole vibe. He sees automation not just as tech for tech’s sake but as a way to unlock human possible. That’s a mindset you don’t see every day.

He’s based out in LA now, but he’s been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, the guy’s legit, recognized for his expertise and vision. It’s clear he’s passionate about building tools that change industries and make work better. Honestly, Nohtal’s story is about jumping into big problems, leveraging his aerospace and robotics background, and turning that into startups that actually matter. No cap, he’s the kind of founder who’s gonna keep pushing boundaries and making waves.