Nicholas Lima’s Post

Since 2016, SpaceX has launched ~300 Falcon 9 rockets into space. Every single one has been successful. The consistency is remarkable, but how did they achieve this across different weather conditions, payloads, and rocket designs? The answer is testing… and lots of it. On the surface, testing hardware is relatively simple. Build it, test it, see what breaks. Rinse and repeat until you have a robust product. This works great in theory, but it’s much harder when software is antiquated and the data volumes are overwhelming. As the number of variables increases, the number of trials needed increases exponentially. Let's do some quick math assuming we want to isolate different numbers of variables… 5 variables → 120 trials 10 variables → 3,628,800 trials 20 variables → 2,432,902,008,176,640,000 trials (2.4 quintillion) You get the idea. For complex hardware (like Falcon 9), it’s incredibly difficult and expensive to test all aspects of a system. Yet there are significant real-world consequences when mission-critical hardware fails. This is why Nominal is so critical. Nominal’s software platform streamlines testing and deployment of complex hardware so engineering teams can speed up innovation cycles and lower costs (and angst) in the process. It’s a godsend for industrial companies and is going to play a key role in enabling America’s manufacturing future. Overmatch is excited to be part of Nominal’s Series A and support Cameron McCord, Bryce Strauss, and Jason Hoch as they build the modern industrial data stack. We invested alongside Paul Kwan and Alexa Liautaud at General Catalyst; Bilal Zuberi and Josh Wolfe at Lux Capital; Delian Asparouhov and Trae Stephens at Founders Fund; Ross Fubini at XYZ Venture Capital; Semil Shah and Aashay Sanghvi at Haystack; and Matthew Colford and Baris Akis at HUMAN CAPITAL.

There is so much that is so damn impressive about Nominal's execution. The team identified a truly needed product in the world. More than that... They serve their customers. Sometimes Nominal is saving days of work for an engineer detangling the performance of new hardware in an autonomous fixed wing drone. Other times, helping implement a transformational change for engineering orgs, delivering iteration speed from simulation to range to unlock an RFP goal and contract win. They are building dual use -- powering the best of commercial and public sector teams. Whether a government contractor delivering on a $12b contract. A scaled public company, integrating AI into your roadmap on to your existing HW platform. A startup which is willing a first product into existence. Nominal is there for all the dual use hardware builders who live real time, live in physical world time. The real world runs real time. The real world runs Nominal and so excited to be on the journey. Also, hiring, https://www.nominal.io/, kind of a lot. If you are awesome, they want to talk to you.

Today we share Nominal with the world. We are on a mission to revolutionize the way mission-critical hardware systems are tested, validated, and monitored. We’ve been hard at work for the past 18 months building our core product offering, working with early customers across commercial and DoD applications, and assembling a world-class team. With $27.5M in funding, we are hitting the accelerator and scaling. Thank you to Lizette Chapman at Bloomberg for sharing our story here! https://lnkd.in/eJQVwf9P The Nominal platform gives engineers and operators a first-class way to organize, visualize, transform, validate, and monitor data—all in one application. Flexible. Scalable. Collaborative. We are supporting the world’s most advanced hardware companies with best-in-class testing and analysis workflows. Our customers build and operate satellites, rockets, drones, autonomous aircraft, advanced nuclear reactors, and more. Our mission is to support their mission. Our early traction as a team is the result of years of patient observations, experience both building and operating software in diverse and demanding environments, and earned insights from working with some the best companies in the business. I’m thankful to be standing on the shoulders of giants. If 18 months is any indication, it’s proving to be the fulfillment of a lifetime. And we are just getting started. For me, Nominal is the conversion of a massive amount of potential to kinetic energy. I’ve spent a decade operating at the intersection of mission, technology, product, and company-building. My time in uniform as a US Navy submarine officer and later as a startup operator (Anduril Industries, Applied Intuition, Saildrone Inc) in critical technology areas has personally cemented a powerful truth: engineers and operators who are testing, validating, and monitoring high-stakes hardware systems deserve the world’s best software. I’m proud to be on this journey with Bryce Strauss and Jason Hoch—I can’t imagine two better people to motivate and inspire me every single day. Finally, we are lucky to be backed by some of the best investors in the world—thank you to Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, XYZ Venture Capital, Haystack, Human Capital, BoxGroup, and Overmatch. Your support from the earliest moments has propelled Nominal into a bright future! All systems Nominal. 🚀 Bryce Strauss, Jason Hoch, Paul Kwan, Alexa Liautaud, Bilal Zuberi, Josh Wolfe, Delian Asparouhov, Trae Stephens, Ross Fubini, Semil Shah, Aashay Sanghvi, Matthew Colford, Baris Akis, Adina Davis, Claire Smilow, Evan Loomis

Thank you Nathan P. Diller! Means a lot coming from you. This concept of Digital Material Management is becoming increasingly important - how do we more efficiently test, validate, and field reliable next-generation capability? Some trends that are driving this critical need: 1) The evolving Joint All-Domain nature of the fight means more sensors, more telemetry, and more individual test parameters from diverse data sources than ever before (test beds, vehicles, test ranges and instrumentation, simulations, operational exercises, etc.) 2) Modern software advancements, while sometimes slow, are indeed steady across the Department, which means access to an evolving number of test and telemetry data sets, files, data lakes, and organizational schemas. 3) Speed to field future systems (that are validated) is increasingly becoming a measure of operational relevance. If it takes us 10 years, and our adversary 5, we are losing the future fight. Nominal is tackling this challenge head on!

Kipu's algorithms are enabling #QuantumComputing in the current NISQ (noisy intermediate scale quantum-computing) era 🚀 Thanks a lot Nadine Schimroszik for the feature on Kipu Quantum in Handelsblatt.

We kick off this week by being named one of the leading #DualUse funders outside of the US by TechCrunch 🙌   #Dual-use technology – tech used in both civilian and defense applications – is on the rise as the search for #innovation to make democratic societies less vulnerable to attacks increases rapidly. Part of this development is driven by the mission and investments of the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) I, which is not only making direct investments but also backing #DeepTech funds, including OTB Ventures.   Our Co-Founder, Marcin Hejka, asserts that it is a no-brainer that increasingly more startups are tapping into dual-use technologies, commenting: “It’s absolutely natural that the defense sector is applying more and more technologies with civilian roots.”   👉 Learn more about the development of dual-use technology in this TechCrunch article by Anna Heim: https://t.ly/inOx8

A couple of interesting things here. The tech itself is so essential - quantum-enabled PNT removes the need to rely on GPS satellites, which are vulnerable to geopolitical whims - e.g. the UK has suggested it would cost £1 bn per day if the GPS network was taken down. Q-CTRL's latest partnerships with the Australian government and AUKUS to develop GPS-free navigation using quantum sensors are indicative of the global geopolitical investment in quantum sensing. Secondly, interesting how Q-CTRL called a 'quantum sensor startup' here - perhaps indicative of the way the market is trending. Their experience in quantum computing is a huge strength but software is needed for sensing too and this segment of the ecosystem is seeing a lot of movement right now - from investors and governments. #Quantum #QuantumSensing

DefenseTech as an ingredient in National Security 💥 💫 DefenseTech continues its rise and gains attentions all over the world 🌎 💫 The big picture : as the field attracts top talent it leads to new technologies, methods, applications and products. 💫 Why it matters: the turmoil around the world makes governments spend more money 💰 on defense to improve national security, resilience and robustness - the defense market grows fast alongside commercial applications. 💫 Between the lines: investors, #VCs support the trend and shift their attention and resources to #DeepTech, #DefenseTech and #dualuse technologies. 💫 Dive deeper: TechCrunch, Anna Heim, https://lnkd.in/ddjjmb28 #startup #innovation

Defense alliance NATO has officially closed its first fund to back startups that are building technology strategic to NATO’s own goals in defense and security. Member nations are collectively committing capital totaling €1 billion (around $1 billion at current rates) to the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), which plans to make both direct investments in startups, as well as indirect investments in other funds that in turn back startups focused on emerging and disruptive technologies that are “responsible and led by fundamental principles: safety, freedom, and human empowerment.” Areas of focus will include AI and autonomy, biotechnology, quantum computing, space technology and hypersonic systems, energy, new manufacturing and materials, and next-generation communications. Read more on NATO's $1B innovation fund from Ingrid Lunden here: https://tcrn.ch/47h72an #TechCrunch #technews #NATO #startups #security

Congratulations to the below Techstars companies for their recent announcements 🚀 Team Wildfire, Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator 2023, successfully completed their $3.7M seed stage funding round. Team Wildfire, founded by Steve Wolf, harnesses the power of advanced engineering, tactics and chemistries to mitigate environmental challenges, including wildfire, reforestation, dust attenuation, oil spill cleanup, nuclear and biological exposures, and lava flow. Learn more about their funding round ➡️https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/10/25/team-wildfire-steve-wolf-jet-engines-muus-cottonwood Twelve Labs, Techstars Seattle Accelerator 2021, recently closed a $10M strategic fundraising round. Twelve Labs, co-founded by Dave Chung and @Aiden L., helps developers build programs that can see, hear, and understand the world as we do by giving them the world's most powerful video-understanding infrastructure. Learn more about their funding round ➡️https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/24/twelve-labs-is-building-models-that-can-understand[…]F7AwQkS6cdKj9dUDgSyAyvcry-jiiSUn-suxXdyMCkMX_kAwaCZ2JxfFt2IVC Damon Motorcycles, Techstars Detroit Powered by J.P. Morgan 2017, has signed a definitive agreement with Inpixon (NASDAQ: INPX) to complete a reverse take-over merger (RTO) with a proposed spin-off entity of Inpixon, Grafiti Holding Inc. Damon Motors, founded by Jay Giraud, is an electric motorcycle maker with award-winning electric superbikes, HyperSport and HyperFighter, which offer unparalleled safety, comfort, 4G connectivity and performance with groundbreaking technologies and zero tailpipe emissions.  Learn more ➡️https://privatecapitaljournal.com/damon-motors-to-go-public-on-nasdaq-by-way-of-rto-of-inpixon/ Paladin , Techstars Chicago Accelerator, partners with the Department of Justice to expand its pro bono technology to all DOJ attorneys. Paladin's, founded by Kristen Sonday, mission is to increase access to justice by helping legal teams run more efficient pro bono programs. Learn more ➡️https://www.joinpaladin.com/pro-bono-blog/paladin-partners-with-the-department-of-justice-to-expand-its-pro-bono-technology-to-all-doj-attorneys/ #news #founder #startup #techstars