Nominal raises $240M Series C at $3B valuation for AI hardware engineering

Austin-based Nominal announced a $240 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation on November 9, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with Insight Partners as co-lead. The valuation tripled from the $1 billion mark set in March, when the company raised an $80 million Series B-2. Its platform collects and analyzes test data from aircraft, rocket engines, drones and energy systems, and its first agent, Nominal Analyst, runs analyses with answers traced back to the underlying evidence.

The company said it will use the money to build agents that cover work from requirements verification to fleet health. In October the US Air Force selected Nominal for a $71.2 million funding increase that requires matching outside funds. Anduril is among its named customers.

For builders in defense, aerospace and robotics, the round shows buyers paying for AI that works on proprietary engineering data and can show its sources. Vertical agents tied to physical test data are attracting capital at valuations that rival horizontal AI tools.