Participated · Series A · May 2026

Havoc develops an all-domain collaborative autonomy stack and a software-defined hardware approach that enables heterogeneous autonomous assets to sense, decide, and act together across sea, air, and land. The company reports more than 25,000 hours of autonomous testing and deployments and has collected over 200 billion data points from operations to iterate its field-tested autonomy stack. Havoc has built and deployed 100+ autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) globally, with 40+ mission-ready today and 30+ vessels delivered to the U.S. Department of Defense. It has made strategic acquisitions (Mavrik and Teleo) to expand into air and land domains and maintains partnerships with defense primes such as Leidos, Lockheed Martin, and SAIC as well as shipbuilders and additive manufacturers. Havoc has grown to over 200 employees, opened new offices in Austin and San Diego, and expanded maritime production in Rhode Island. The company highlights award recognition, SBIR awards, and selection to industry challenges as validation while positioning itself to scale deployments and production to meet defense and commercial demand.

Led · Series D · Oct 2025

Founded in 2018 in Santa Clara, xMEMS Labs has built a monolithic piezoelectric MEMS (piezoMEMS) platform that replaces traditional coil-based speakers and fans with fully solid-state silicon components. Its Sycamore loudspeaker is marketed as the world’s thinnest and lightest high-fidelity MEMS speaker for ultra-slim products such as AI glasses, headphones, and smartwatches. Complementing this is µCooling, the industry’s first chip-scale, vibration-free active thermal management solution aimed at smartphones, SSDs, and other space-constrained electronics. The company holds more than 250 granted patents and has earned accolades including Best MEMS Solution and Startup of the Year at Sensors Converge 2025. Major consumer OEMs are now engaging with xMEMS to integrate these technologies into next-generation edge-AI hardware. Proceeds from its latest funding will be used to ramp mass production, expand manufacturing partnerships, and fuel additional R&D on audio, thermal, and other piezoMEMS applications. The recently closed $21 million Series D round provides the capital required to support these scale-up efforts.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2025

XLight develops advanced lasers intended for use in semiconductor manufacturing as an alternative to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. The company aims to reduce the cost and time of producing next-generation AI chips and is targeting major equipment suppliers such as ASML as potential customers. XLight is chaired by a former Intel CEO, a leadership detail highlighted for its industrial credibility. The startup recently received a significant investment from the U.S. Department of Commerce and is now negotiating to raise $350 million from two investment funds. The company’s plans and fundraising are framed within U.S. efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor capabilities amid geopolitical competition with China. No revenue, user, or valuation metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Series D · Dec 2024

Headquartered in San Jose, CA, Ayar Labs builds co-packaged optics that move data between chips with light instead of copper, reducing power consumption while boosting bandwidth for AI infrastructure. Its flagship TeraPHY optical engine is manufactured in concert with leading semiconductor partners and is designed to slot directly into existing accelerator and switch designs. By replacing traditional electrical I/O with optical links, the technology delivers significant performance gains and cost savings in power-constrained environments. Following its latest financing, the company plans to ramp production and testing capacity, open and staff a new office in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and deepen ecosystem partnerships to speed customer deployments. Ayar Labs’ CPO solution is already qualified for industry-standard fab, manufacturing, and packaging flows, positioning it for broad adoption. The company has raised a cumulative $870 million to date, providing substantial capital to execute its global expansion and commercialization roadmap.

Led · Series A · Nov 2024

LUUM builds A.I. and robotics-powered eyelash extension systems and brands the category as Beauty Experience Automation. The company combines robotics, AI, and a global patent portfolio to automate and standardize salon-quality lash services. LUUM has run retail pilots with Ulta Beauty and Nordstrom to demonstrate its location-based service model and to drive retailer traffic. The company plans a next-generation product launch and is securing additional strategic retail partners to roll out its technology at scale beginning June 2025. Leadership recently changed with Jo Lawson named CEO and co-founder Nathan Harding returning to CTO; Lawson helped lead the latest financing. Financially, LUUM closed a Series A that brings total capital raised to $30M to fund product and market expansion. Founded in 2017 and based in Oakland, Calif., LUUM positions itself as the future of beauty services that augments lash artists and retail partners. Oakland-based LUUM Precision Lash builds the world’s first AI-powered robotic technology specifically for applying eyelash extensions. The company’s system aims to make the service roughly 3X faster while delivering a more consistent, luxury experience that can triple salon throughput and revenues. LUUM plans to leverage its latest funding to build a next-generation machine and run a soon-to-be-announced pilot with a top-five U.S. cosmetics brand. The company says it will launch commercially with a top-5 cosmetics retailer in 2022 and is planning additional funding rounds and partnerships to support rapid growth. LUUM touts a robust global patent portfolio, a Net Promoter Score of 82, a 5-star review from PopSugar, and national exposure including the Today Show. Earlier this year LUUM completed a crowd-funding campaign on the StartEngine platform.