Eclipse is a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm founded in 2015 with a mission to back and build companies that transform the physical economy. The firm focuses on industries where AI, automation, and hardware intersect — from manufacturing and energy to defense and transportation. With roughly $10 billion in assets under management, Eclipse operates as both a traditional investor and a startup studio, co-founding companies from scratch alongside backing external founders.
Eclipse targets what it calls physical AI: the convergence of artificial intelligence with robotics, autonomous systems, industrial hardware, and physical infrastructure. The firm invests across transportation, energy, compute, defense, manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, and construction.
A core part of its thesis is that scale in physical industries requires companies in adjacent sectors to partner early and share data, building defensible moats that software-only companies cannot replicate.
Eclipse closed $1.3 billion across two new funds in April 2026, its largest single fundraise in the firm's 11-year history. The capital is split between Fund VI, a $720 million early-stage vehicle, and Early Growth Fund III, a $591 million fund targeting companies approaching commercial scale.
The dual-fund structure is intentional: many physical AI companies hit a capital cliff precisely at the prototype-to-production transition, when hardware tooling, supply chain buildout, and safety certification require more capital than software-oriented investors typically provide. The growth fund is designed to bridge that gap.
Alongside traditional check-writing, Eclipse allocates a portion of the early-stage capital to internally incubating startups, identifying white-space opportunities in physical AI, assembling founding teams, and defining early product direction before any external investor sees a cap table. The raise brings Eclipse's total AUM to approximately $10 billion.
Leadership
Lior Susan is Founding Partner and CEO, and has led Eclipse since its founding in 2015 with a conviction that the most important companies of this generation would be built in physical industries. Greg Reichow is a Partner with deep experience in hardware scale-up, having previously served as an executive leader of global manufacturing, factory automation, and supply chain at Tesla. Aidan Madigan-Curtis is a Partner who previously helped launch the Apple Watch and iPhone 6S as part of Apple's Global Operations team, then scaled Samsara to over $1 billion in ARR as VP and GM of Connected Sites. Seth Winterroth is a Partner and head of robotics at the firm. Jiten Behl is a Partner focused on the physical AI thesis. Charly Mwangi is a Partner and Head of Strategy.
Investment Strategy
Eclipse leads investments and takes active board seats. Partners bring hands-on operating experience from Tesla, Apple, Samsara, GE, and Flextronics, engaging directly with founding teams on strategy, product direction, recruiting, and go-to-market. For early-stage companies, Eclipse runs a Venture Equity program that co-founds startups with experienced operators, typically helping founders acquire design partners or ship initial deliverables within 6 to 12 months. The growth fund is positioned to lead larger rounds as portfolio companies move toward production.
Notable Investments
The firm's portfolio spans autonomous vehicles, defense systems, battery technology, electric transport, and industrial robotics:
Other
Eclipse's incubation model, branded as Eclipse Venture Equity, is a structured program for experienced operators and executives looking to build new companies in physical industries. The firm provides access to customer relationships, talent networks, and strategic capital. Portfolio companies that emerged through this path have collectively raised over $800 million in follow-on funding, at a pace more than three times faster than the industry median.
United States
