Eclipse, a venture capital firm, has raised $1.3 billion in new funding to support startups operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the physical world.
The capital is split between a $591 million early-stage incubation fund and a separate vehicle focused on growth-stage investments. The firm aims to back and build companies developing technologies that apply AI to real-world systems across sectors such as energy, transportation, and infrastructure.
What The Company Does
Eclipse Ventures focuses on investing in companies that operate within the physical economy, targeting industries where software, automation, and AI intersect with hardware and infrastructure.
Its portfolio includes companies such as Arc Boats, Redwood Materials, Bedrock Robotics, Wayve, and Mind Robotics. These investments reflect a strategy centered on applying advanced technologies to industrial and infrastructure-heavy environments.
Beyond investing, Eclipse also incubates startups internally, supporting company creation from early concept stages. The new fund will continue this approach, with plans to actively build new ventures aligned with its thesis.
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Market Context / Industry Background
The concept of “physical AI” has gained traction as artificial intelligence expands beyond digital applications into real-world systems. This shift reflects broader technological convergence, where advances in AI, robotics, compute power, and data infrastructure enable machines to not only analyze information but also act within physical environments.
Industries such as manufacturing, logistics, energy, and defense are increasingly adopting intelligent systems to improve efficiency and resilience. At the same time, policy shifts and capital inflows are accelerating innovation in these sectors, creating conditions for new entrants.
Eclipse positions this transition as a distinct technological phase, following earlier waves driven by the internet, mobile computing, and cloud platforms. In this context, the integration of software and hardware becomes central, requiring new approaches to system design, deployment, and scalability. Companies operating in this space must address challenges related to reliability, safety, and real-time decision-making, particularly in environments where errors can have significant operational consequences. As adoption increases, the ability to coordinate across complex, interconnected systems is expected to become a key differentiator.
Founder / Investor Commentary
Partner Jiten Behl described the firm’s focus as part of a broader evolution in technology, where intelligence is increasingly linked to physical action. He noted that innovation is moving beyond software interfaces toward systems that can directly interact with and solve problems in the real world.
Behl emphasized that the firm’s strategy extends beyond individual investments, highlighting the importance of building interconnected companies. He explained that enabling early collaboration between portfolio companies can help accelerate scale, validate use cases, and unlock new demand as these businesses grow.
He also pointed to data as a central element of the firm’s thesis, particularly in how cross-sector data integration can strengthen AI models and create competitive advantages.
Growth Plans / Use Of Funds
The newly raised capital will be deployed across both early-stage and growth-stage investments, with a portion dedicated to incubating new startups internally. Eclipse plans to invest across multiple sectors, including transportation, energy, infrastructure, compute, and defense.
A key component of the strategy is the creation of an ecosystem of companies that can collaborate and integrate their technologies. By fostering partnerships between portfolio companies and their broader networks, Eclipse aims to accelerate commercialization and scaling.
The firm has indicated that it is already developing new startup concepts under this model, with a focus on enterprise applications and cross-industry integration.
About Eclipse
Eclipse Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto focused on investing in technologies that transform the physical economy. The firm backs and builds startups across sectors such as energy, transportation, and manufacturing, with an emphasis on AI, automation, and infrastructure. Its mission is to support the development of next-generation industrial systems that combine digital intelligence with real-world execution.
