Lyte, a physical‑AI company developing sensing and perception technology for robots, announced a $165 million Series C financing that values the firm at $1.6 billion post‑money. The round was led by Maverick Silicon, with participation from Fidelity Management and Research, Atreides Management, Key1 Capital, Ora Global and other existing and new investors, raising Lyte’s cumulative capital to $272 million.
The Sunnyvale‑based startup was founded in 2021 by Alexander Shpunt, Arman Hajati and Yuval Gerson, all former Apple engineers who worked on the iPhone maker’s advanced sensing and perception systems. Shpunt previously co‑founded PrimeSense, whose 3D‑sensing tech powered Microsoft’s Kinect before Apple acquired the company in 2013.
Lyte builds custom silicon, 4D sensing, RGB imaging, motion‑awareness and AI software to enable robots to locate themselves and detect surrounding movement. Its initial customers are in warehousing and manufacturing. After operating in stealth, Lyte emerged earlier this year having already raised $107 million across its Series A and B rounds.
“Physical AI will create entirely new categories of robots, and every one of them will need to understand the world around it,” CEO Alexander Shpunt said in an email to Crunchbase News. “That requires a new kind of perception: precise, real‑time understanding of geometry and motion that machines can trust enough to act on.”
Funding for physical‑AI ventures has surged, with global venture capital in the sector reaching $47.4 billion across 521 deals in the first half of 2026, nearly four times the $12 billion raised in the second half of 2025 and up 80 % from the first half of 2025.
Maverick Silicon’s managing partner Andrew Homan joined Lyte’s board as part of the transaction. “Lyte is building a foundational sensing platform that enables a wide range of robots to perceive and understand the world around them,” he said in a release, adding that early customer demand strengthens confidence in the company’s role in the robotics era.
