Hardware testing startup Nominal hits $1B valuation, raises $155M in 10 months

Nominal, a Los Angeles-based hardware testing startup founded three and a half years ago, has rapidly grown to a $1 billion valuation after raising $155 million in the past 10 months. The company provides software that assists hardware engineers in testing their designs and initially focused on serving the defense industry. In this short period, Nominal secured four of the five largest defense contractors as customers, including Anduril, a defense tech firm co-founded by Nominal’s CEO Cameron McCord, a former U.S. Navy submarine officer. The recent funding round was led by Anduril co-founder and Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens, with participation from prominent investors such as Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Red Glass, and Lightspeed. Looking ahead, Nominal aims to broaden its market reach beyond defense technology into industrial sectors like automotive and robotics, signaling ambitions for diversified growth across multiple hardware-intensive industries.