Dephy traces its origins to MIT Media Lab research that explored how robotic prosthetic technologies could assist people without limb loss. According to Dephy’s own history page, this work led to an early ankle exoskeleton that made walking easier and ultimately to the founding of the company in 2016. By 2019, the company had developed an early version of what is now described as the Sidekick to support service members across multiple branches, with the goal of helping users walk farther, reduce fatigue, and recover faster from injury through a system integrated into footwear.

Company projects include the Dephy ExoBoot, an earlier military/research project. The ExoBoot is a powered ankle exoskeleton for military augmentation, designed to reduce metabolic cost during walking.

Projects (past & present):

• Dephy ExoBoot – earlier powered ankle exoskeleton for military/research augmentation.
• Dephy Sidekick – consumer powered ankle-assist footwear / bionic footwear system.
• Nike Project Amplify – powered footwear system for running and walking, created with Dephy as Nike’s robotics partner.