Lyte, a physical AI startup building sensing and perception technology for robots, has raised $165 million in Series C funding at a $1.6 billion post-money valuation, according to Crunchbase News. The round was led by Maverick Silicon and brings Lyte’s total raised to $272 million, according to Crunchbase News.
Round composition and investor roster
Fidelity Management And Research Co., which led Lyte’s Series B, participated in the Series C, according to Crunchbase News. The Series C also included participation from Atreides Management, Key1 Capital, Ora Global (formerly Exor Ventures), and additional existing and new investors, according to Crunchbase News.
Andrew Homan, managing partner at Maverick Silicon, joined Lyte’s board of directors as part of the funding round, according to Crunchbase News.
Company background and founders
Lyte is based in Sunnyvale, California, and was founded in 2021 by Alexander Shpunt, Arman Hajati and Yuval Gerson, according to Crunchbase News. Crunchbase News reported that the three founders are former Apple engineers who worked on Apple’s advanced sensing and perception technologies.
Crunchbase News reported that Shpunt previously co-founded PrimeSense, a startup whose 3D-sensing technology powered Microsoft Kinect before Apple acquired PrimeSense in 2013. Crunchbase News also reported that the founders’ past work helped bring 3D perception to the mainstream and later became a foundation for Apple’s Face ID technology.
Product scope, early customers, and prior fundraising visibility
Lyte is building custom silicon, 4D sensing, RGB, motion awareness and AI software to help robots sense where they are and what is moving around them, according to Crunchbase News. Crunchbase News reported that Lyte’s initial customers are primarily in the warehousing and manufacturing industries.
The startup operated in stealth until earlier this year when it emerged and announced it had raised $107 million in Series A and B funding, according to Crunchbase News.
In an email to Crunchbase News, CEO Shpunt said, “Physical AI will create entirely new categories of robots, and every one of them will need to understand the world around it,” and added, “That requires a new kind of perception: precise, real-time understanding of geometry and motion that machines can trust enough to act on,” according to Crunchbase News.
In a release cited by Crunchbase News, Homan said, “Lyte is building a foundational sensing platform that enables a wide range of robots to perceive and understand the world around them,” and added, “The breadth and diversity of early customer demand strengthen our conviction that Lyte is poised to become one of the defining technology companies of the robotics era.”
Physical AI venture funding data cited by Crunchbase
Crunchbase News reported that funding in the physical AI space has expanded in recent years. In the first half of 2026, global venture funding in the physical AI space totaled $47.4 billion across 521 deals, per Crunchbase data cited by Crunchbase News.
Crunchbase News reported that this first-half 2026 total is almost 4x compared to the second half of 2025, when physical AI startups raised $12 billion across 470 deals. Crunchbase News also reported that the first-half 2026 total is up by nearly 80% from the $26.4 billion raised across 436 deals in the first half of 2025.
