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

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Nominal, a software startup for hardware engineering testing, has raised an $80 million Series B extension at a $1 billion valuation, led by Founders Fund. The company, which initially served the defense industry, has secured four of the five largest defense contractors as customers in the last ten months.

The funding round was a preemptive deal led by Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens, who co-founded Anduril, a key Nominal customer. Other investors like Sequoia and General Catalyst also participated.

Nominal now plans to expand beyond defense into industrial sectors like automotive and robotics, and already counts clients such as Pratt Miller Motorsports and nuclear energy company Antares.

Main Topics: Funding round and valuation; Company background and customer base; Investor details and strategic rationale; Future expansion plans.

Original URL

https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/hardware-testing-startup-nominal-hits-1b-valuation-raises-155m-in-10-months/

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TechCrunch

Published Date

2026-03-05 18:59

Fetched Date

2026-03-05 16:30

Processed Date

2026-03-05 16:32

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Present

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Nominal on Thursday announced a fresh $80M Series B extension round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Founders Fund. This followed the company’s $75M Series B round led by Sequoia in September.
Nominal offers software that helps hardware engineers test their designs and began as a picks-and-shovels type of startup for the defense industry. The three-and-a-half-year-old, L.A.-based company says that in the last 10 months, it has landed four of the five largest defense contractors as customers.
CEO and co-founder Cameron McCord (pictured) is a former U.S. Navy submarine officer and Anduril alum, the defense tech company, which is also one of Nominal’s marquee customers. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Anduril co-founder and executive chairman Trae Stephens, who is also a Founders Fund partner, led this as a preemptive deal, McCord told Bloomberg, and confirmed to TechCrunch. Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Red Glass, and Lightspeed also participated.
Next up, Nominal plans to expand beyond defense tech and into industrial sectors like automotive, robotics, and other industries. And it’s made a good start. The company tells TechCrunch that some of its other customers include Pratt Miller Motorsports (the Corvette Racing Team), and nuclear energy company Antares.