Lux Capital
Canvas Category Consultancy : Company : Venture Capital
Investing in people inventing the future. Lux Capital invests in emerging science and technology ventures at the outermost edges of what is possible. We partner with iconoclastic inventors challenging the status quo and the laws of nature to bring their futuristic ideas to life.
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Applied Intuition Grows to $6 Billion Valuation, Securing $250 Million in Series E Funding to Advance Vehicle Software and AI Capabilities
Applied Intuition, Inc., a vehicle software supplier for automotive, trucking, construction, mining, agriculture, and other industries, has raised a $250 million Series E financing round at a $6 billion valuation. The round was led by Bilal Zuberi at Lux Capital (Series C lead investor), Elad Gil (Series D lead investor), and strategic investor Porsche Investments Management S.A. representing the well-known successful sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Applied Intuition also announced the following new and existing investors: Andreessen Horowitz (Series A lead investor), General Catalyst (Series B lead investor), Mary Meeker at BOND, Human Capital, Henry Kravis, Mustafa Suleyman, Ray Dalio, John Quinn, and Nico Rosberg.
Applied Intuition has maintained sustainable triple-digit percentage growth year-over-year, profitably. It has expanded beyond its Silicon Valley headquarters to Detroit, Washington, D.C., Germany, Korea, and Japan and has customers worldwide, including 18 of the top 20 automotive OEMs.
The company will use the financing to make significant investments in generative AI to unlock substantial value for customers and partners. With recent advancements in large language models (LLMs), Applied Intuition is uniquely positioned to help its customers revolutionize the vehicle software development process. The company will continue to recruit the world’s best software and AI engineers to further expand its offerings that enable its customers to have the world’s most advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) solutions.
Armada Raises More Than $55M to Bridge the Digital Divide
Armada, an edge computing pioneer redefining the future of connectivity, compute and AI, today exited stealth. The company marks this milestone with a significant capital raise exceeding $55M, led by Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital and 8090 Industries, with participation from Felicis, Contrary, Valor Equity Partners, Marlinspike, 137 Ventures, Koch Real Estate Investments, 8VC and a cohort of other strategic investors. This funding will propel Armada forward in its mission to bridge the global digital divide, empowering businesses and communities to leverage all of their data, regardless of where it’s generated. Armada is dedicated to unlocking the potential of generative AI, edge computing and predictive models on a global scale.
Armada provides a full-stack infrastructure solution, deployable on both on-premise and cloud infrastructures, to deliver optimal edge computing and cutting edge satellite internet connectivity to the world’s most remote regions. This empowers companies to harness the power of generative AI and predictive models where they are most needed, enabling a range of industries — from utilities and infrastructure to military and mining — to dramatically enhance their real-time processing, analysis and decision-making capabilities, right where their data resides.
Robotics-as-a-Service Startup Instock Announces New Funding Led by Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund
Instock Inc, an innovator in customer fulfillment robotics, announced that it raised $3.2M in new funding, led by Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund – these new investments bring Instock’s Seed financing to a total of $6.2M. Instock’s Seed round was co-led by OneWay Ventures and Lux Capital, and funding participation also includes Commerce VC, u.ventures, Cybernetix Ventures and other investors active in the robotics and eCommerce ecosystem. With the new funding, Instock continues on its plans to democratize automation of storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) using gravity-defying robots. In January 2024, Instock will launch its first production system with a tech-forward 3PL in North America.
Lumafield Announces $35M Series B Funding, Major Product Upgrades, and New Board Appointments
Lumafield, a pioneering developer of accessible X-ray CT technology, today announced it has closed a $35M Series B funding round from new and existing investors, achieved a major new AI-driven performance breakthrough, and appointed two prominent executives to its board of directors. The company has raised a total of $67.5M to date, including a combined $32.5M in its Seed and Series A funding rounds. Spark Capital led the Series B round, which also included participation from existing investors Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, DCVC, and Future Shape.
Lumafield’s AI allows the company’s reconstruction process to achieve the same high-quality results with fewer two-dimensional X-ray images, reducing the time required to run a scan. New improvements in Lumafield’s software also make it possible to skip certain steps in the reconstruction process before performing automated analysis, which cuts processing time.
Mendaera Annources Expansion into Production Facility
Mendaera, an innovator in healthcare robotics, today announced its expansion into a production facility to support future growth and operations. The company has completed research and design of its collaborative robotic system, and is now focused on completing development and obtaining FDA clearance. The new Silicon Valley facility will enable rapid growth of the organization, as well as volume manufacturing for product launch.
The company has raised $24 million in Series A funding led by Lux Capital, with participation from Founders Fund, Operator Partners, and Allen & Company, LLC. Other investors include Intuitive Surgical and Auris Health founder Dr. Fred Moll and former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey.
đź’¸ Lux 8 + infinite potential
We are announcing our single largest fund to date with the successful closing of Lux Ventures VIII (Lux 8), an early-stage focused venture capital fund with $1.15 billion in Limited Partner commitments. With Lux 8, we will invest in and fully fund the most ambitious founders building hard science and deep technology companies, solving the world’s most pressing problems and futureforming the world we want to live in.
Anduril Raises $1.48 Billion in Series E Funding
Defense technology company Anduril Industries today announced $1.48 billion in Series E funding, valuing the company at $8.48 billion, nearly doubling the company’s previous valuation in June 2021. The new funding will enable Anduril to accelerate research and development to bring new, cutting edge, autonomous defense capabilities to the market and continue to mature and scale its current business lines with the US Department of Defense as well as US allies and partners.
The problems US and allied militaries are facing are fundamentally software problems. To continue to enable the US, allies and partners to deter adversaries, Anduril is building software-defined and hardware-enabled capabilities that solve mission needs with autonomy, today. Autonomous systems will enable the military to operate faster and at greater scale across both tactical and strategic operations.
Formic Technologies Raises $26.5 Million Series A Led By Lux Capital
Formic Technologies, a provider of turnkey robotic solutions to American manufacturers, has raised $26.5 million in a Series A financing led by Lux Capital with participation from Initialized Capital, Correlation Ventures, Lorimer Ventures, One Planet VC and other strategic investors. In addition, Formic has secured access to more than $100 million of debt capital to fund equipment purchases. This financing will enable the company, now valued at more than $100 million, to expand its operations and support the rapid deployment of its Robots-as-a-Service offering for U.S. manufacturers.
Anduril Raises $450 Million in Series D Funding
Defense technology company Anduril Industries today announced $450 million in Series D funding and a post-money valuation of $4.6 billion, more than double the company’s previous valuation in July 2020.
Anduril’s Lattice AI software platform, hardware products, and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the UK Ministry of Defence, as well as other agencies. Lattice uses computer vision, machine learning, and mesh networking to fuse real-time sensor data to create a single, autonomous operating picture and command and control platform. Lattice ties together Anduril’s family of site security solutions deployed along the southwest border to provide situational awareness, and on military bases in the U.S. and abroad to autonomously detect, track, and interdict intrusions by people, drones, and other vehicles. Lattice is also the operating system that enables Anduril’s autonomous unmanned aircraft, such as the new Ghost 4 sUAS, to perform their missions.