Bright Machines
13 known investors
Software-defined manufacturing company using AI and robotics to assemble AI servers, racks and storage systems.
Also known as Bright Machines, Inc.
Investors · 13
Also in the syndicate · 5
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Bright Machines is a software and robotics company offering a full-stack automation solution for electronics manufacturing. Its operations center on the Bright Factory platform, an intelligent manufacturing system that links product design, automated assembly and factory data. The company builds data center infrastructure — AI servers, AI racks and AI storage systems — for hyperscalers, using robotic assembly lines with end-to-end data traceability.
The platform has three main components. Virtual product development, delivered through Bright Designer, converts CAD designs into production-ready digital models so that design rules and simulation can be applied before production to improve manufacturability. AI-enabled robotics provide software-defined automation, powered by "Smart Skills," that builds, inspects and verifies products in real time and adapts to product changes across lines and sites. Factory intelligence unifies data across components, processes and enterprise systems via Bright Data, using secure APIs to create auditable data flows that feed insights back into design and production.
Earlier generations of the product were marketed as the Bright Machines Microfactory — modular Bright Robotic Cells (BRCs) that can be combined into assembly lines — operated by the cloud-based Brightware platform, which lets operators run, monitor and control assembly lines. The company also offers a Design for Automated Assembly (DFAA) tool that provides virtual design recommendations, machine-learning-based assembly inspection for quality control, and flexible disassembly capabilities intended to harvest and recycle components at end of life for circular manufacturing.
Founding story
Bright Machines was founded in 2018 by industry veterans who saw an opportunity to address inefficient, manual and fragmented electronics manufacturing with a data-focused approach. It was incubated by supply chain services provider Flex and emerged from stealth in 2018 with a Series A round led by Eclipse Ventures. Co-founder Lior Susan, who also founded Eclipse Ventures and previously led Flex's LabIX hardware investment platform, serves as chairman; Amar Hanspal, formerly interim co-CEO of Autodesk, was CEO and co-founder in the company's early years.
Business model
Bright Machines sells a full-stack automation offering combining hardware (modular Bright Robotic Cells assembled into microfactories and production lines) with software (Brightware platform, Bright Designer, Bright Data) and services. Following its Series B it planned to expand service offerings and its partner network; more recently it positions itself as a next-generation manufacturer that operates integrated Bright Factory assembly operations producing data center infrastructure, and offers edge-deployed production lines.
Revenue comes from sales and deployment of automated assembly hardware and microfactory lines together with software platforms and related services; the company also describes itself as a manufacturer producing AI data center infrastructure for customers.
Traction
As of its October 2022 Series B announcement, the company reported serving more than 40 global manufacturing companies, deploying over 100 microfactories and doubling bookings year-over-year from 2021 to 2022, with customer results of up to 75% more units per hour and 65% fewer defects per production run. Company materials state it has powered 130 microfactories worldwide. In June 2019, one year after founding, press coverage reported $100M in booked revenue and about 400 employees; both the 2022 and 2024 announcements cite more than 200 employees worldwide. The website advertises 40% faster time to revenue, 30% lower total cost and 15% higher reliability.
Latest developments
In June 2024 the company closed a $126M Series C led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock with participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil and Shinhan Securities plus venture debt from J.P. Morgan, bringing total capital raised to more than $400M, and announced an integration and go-to-market partnership with Microsoft Azure. Company materials describe a 2025 shift to an intelligent manufacturing platform bringing production to the edge and a 2026 expansion of the Bright Factory platform with the Hybrid BRC, which adds operator-assisted assembly while preserving traceability. Leadership has changed: Sviat Dulianinov, previously Chief Strategy Officer, is now CEO, with co-founder Lior Susan as chairman and Fiaz Mohamed, formerly of Crusoe and AWS, as President and Chief Growth Officer.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
The company positions itself within the industrial automation market, described in its 2022 announcement as a $250B market, and as a supplier of AI hardware infrastructure — the "AI backbone" — to cloud compute providers and hyperscalers facing pressure to scale AI capacity. It has been named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, one of Forbes' "America's Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies," and "Best AI-based Solution for Manufacturing" by AI Breakthrough.
Bright Machines contrasts its software-defined, data-centric approach with traditional analog, labor-intensive electronics assembly, where automation setup requires specialized skills and takes months. Its differentiators include reconfigurable modular robotic cells that can be recombined for new products, centralized data visibility and traceability, design-stage simulation to reduce build risk, edge-deployable production lines, and disassembly for component harvesting and recycling.
Technology
The technology stack combines computer vision, machine learning, simulation and digital twins with modular robotic hardware. Bright Designer translates CAD into production-ready digital models for virtual validation; software-defined robotics with Smart Skills perform assembly, inspection and verification with micron-level precision and real-time self-correction; and Bright Data connects component, process and enterprise data through secure APIs for traceability and optimization. The company's digital twin and simulation work is built on NVIDIA Omniverse core technologies, and its Microsoft Azure collaboration brings cloud-based streaming to factory floors.
Go-to-market
Bright Machines sells directly to OEMs and works through EMS and ODM partners, supported by ecosystem partnerships with NVIDIA, Microsoft (including an integration and go-to-market partnership with Microsoft Azure) and Jabil. It has also used customer-facing facilities, including a planned San Francisco Customer Experience Center and a Guadalajara Integration Hub, and markets demos via its website.
Original equipment manufacturers plus EMS and ODM partners in electronics, with earlier customers in automotive, consumer and electronics sectors; the current focus is hyperscale data center operators and buyers of AI server, rack and storage infrastructure.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an R&D center in Israel and an integration center in Mexico, including an Integration Hub in Guadalajara; microfactory deployments are described as global.
History
Founded in 2018 with a Series A led by Eclipse, the company deployed its first automated assembly line using modular Bright Robotic Cells in 2019 and launched the Bright Machines Microfactory product that June. In 2021 it developed and integrated the Brightware platform operating system, and in May of that year agreed to a reverse merger with the SPAC SCVX that would have listed it on the NYSE under the ticker BRTM at a $1.1bn pro forma valuation. In October 2022 it announced a $132M Series B and debt package led by Eclipse Ventures, with plans for an Integration Hub in Guadalajara, Mexico and a Customer Experience Center in San Francisco. It established strategic partnerships with NVIDIA and Microsoft in 2024 and raised a $126M Series C led by BlackRock in June 2024, refocusing on AI infrastructure across design, assembly and disassembly. Company materials mark 2025 as the year it brought manufacturing to the edge with an intelligent manufacturing platform, and 2026 as the launch of the Hybrid BRC, which integrates operator-assisted assembly into automated production while retaining traceability.
Risks & controversies
The 2021 agreement to go public via a reverse merger with SPAC SCVX, expected to close in the second half of 2021 with NYSE listing under BRTM, is not reflected in later company materials, which instead describe subsequent private Series B and Series C financings. Reported figures also vary across sources: employee counts of about 400 in 2019 versus more than 200 in 2022 and 2024, and cumulative funding stated as $200M (2019), $330M (2022) and more than $400M (2024).
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsLaunched the Hybrid BRC to integrate operator-assisted assembly into automated production without compromising traceability, for AI infrastructure production.
Sviat Dulianinov, previously Chief Strategy Officer, is listed as CEO, with co-founder Lior Susan as Chairman; Fiaz Mohamed serves as President and Chief Growth Officer.
Raised $126M in Series C funding: $106M in equity led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock with participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil and Shinhan Securities, plus $20M in venture debt from J.P. Morgan, bringing total raised to more than $400M.
$126M source ↗
Established strategic partnerships with NVIDIA and Microsoft to extend its automation technology stack, including an integration and go-to-market partnership with Microsoft Azure and use of NVIDIA Omniverse core technologies for industrial digital twins.
Announced $100M Series B equity led by Eclipse Ventures and $32M in debt led by Silicon Valley Bank and Hercules Capital, bringing total raised since 2018 to $330M.
$132M source ↗
Recognitions cited include Inc. Best in Business: Manufacturing; Forbes America's Most Promising AI Companies; American Business Awards Tech Startup of the Year: Software; BloombergNEF Partner; World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer; and AI Breakthrough's Best AI-based Solution for Manufacturing.
Company said it would unveil an Integration Hub in Guadalajara, Mexico later in 2022 and a U.S.-based Customer Experience Center in San Francisco in early 2023.
Bright Machines agreed to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company SCVX, including a $205m PIPE backed by XN, SB Management (SoftBank), Fidelity Management and Research, Alyeska Investment Group and Hudson Bay Master Fund. With $230m held in SCVX's trust, the company was to receive $435m in gross proceeds at a $1.1bn pro forma valuation and trade on the NYSE as BRTM.
$435M source ↗
Bright Machines launched its first software-defined product, Bright Machines Microfactories, combining the cloud-based Brightware software with modular Bright Robotic Cells for assembly and inspection.
Amar Hanspal, formerly interim co-CEO of Autodesk, was CEO and co-founder of Bright Machines.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Bright Machinesbrightmachines.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Bright Machines do?
- Software-defined manufacturing company using AI and robotics to assemble AI servers, racks and storage systems.
- Who are Bright Machines's investors?
- Bright Machines's investors include Ansa Capital, BMW i Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Lux Capital, BlackRock, Eclipse, NVIDIA.