Eclipse

Eclipse has spent the last decade building a venture capital strategy around the “physical economy,” backing startups operating across manufacturing, defense, logistics, energy infrastructure, robotics, advanced compute, and industrial automation. Founded in 2015 by Lior Susan, the Palo Alto-based firm positioned itself early around the belief that software alone would not define the next generation of category leaders.

That thesis now sits directly inside several of the most important market conversations in technology and geopolitics: supply chain resilience, reshoring, AI infrastructure, industrial automation, defense modernization, and energy security. While much of venture capital concentrated on consumer software and SaaS efficiency, Eclipse focused on companies wrestling with factories, propulsion systems, machine intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and physical infrastructure.

The firm’s portfolio includes companies such as Cerebras Systems, VulcanForms, Cellares, Bright Machines, Augury, Reliable Robotics, Arc, Ursa Major, and Enovix. These are not lightweight software businesses chasing engagement metrics. They are capital-intensive infrastructure plays designed to modernize how industries build, move, power, and defend the real world.

The broader implication is becoming difficult to ignore: venture capital is rediscovering industrial systems. Eclipse simply arrived earlier than most.

What Happened

Venture capital spent years rewarding software businesses that scaled without touching physical infrastructure. Investors loved gross margins, recurring revenue, and products deployable through a browser tab before lunch. Warehouses, factories, supply chains, and manufacturing complexity were treated like somebody else’s problem. Then global supply chains cracked, geopolitical tensions escalated, AI compute demand exploded, and governments started rediscovering industrial policy like a retired boxer climbing back into the ring for one more payday. Eclipse saw that shift coming before it became fashionable.

Founded in 2015 by Lior Susan, Eclipse built its identity around the physical economy. The firm describes itself as “Operators with Capital,” which sounds like a slogan until you examine the team composition. Greg Reichow brought manufacturing experience from Tesla. Angela Hayward helps shape strategy across the platform. Jiten Behl, Seth Winterroth, Kaitlyn Glancy, Joe Fath, Thomas Storch, and other partners collectively reflect operational depth rarely seen inside traditional venture firms.

This is not accidental positioning. Eclipse deliberately structured itself around sectors many Silicon Valley investors historically viewed as too operationally messy, too hardware-heavy, or too dependent on real-world execution risk. That bet now looks increasingly aligned with where global capital is moving.

Why Eclipse Matters in Venture Capital

Eclipse sits at the intersection of several structural technology trends happening simultaneously.

AI is no longer confined to chat interfaces and productivity software. Manufacturing systems, logistics networks, robotics platforms, energy infrastructure, and defense environments are becoming software-defined and AI-assisted. Factories increasingly behave like data systems with conveyor belts attached. Warehouses look more like distributed operating systems. Industrial equipment now generates continuous machine intelligence streams. That creates massive opportunities for startups capable of integrating hardware, software, automation, and compute infrastructure into unified systems.

Most venture firms prefer software because software failure is cheaper. Industrial systems punish mistakes differently. A delayed deployment can stall production lines. A flawed manufacturing assumption can vaporize millions in capital expenditure. Physical infrastructure introduces regulatory pressure, supply chain dependencies, operational complexity, and geopolitical sensitivity all at once. It is venture capital with steel-toe boots.

Eclipse leaned into that discomfort instead of avoiding it. The result is a portfolio concentrated around infrastructure-level companies rather than convenience-layer applications. Cerebras Systems is attacking AI compute infrastructure with wafer-scale architecture. VulcanForms focuses on advanced digital manufacturing systems. Cellares is industrializing cell therapy manufacturing. Bright Machines modernizes industrial automation. Reliable Robotics pushes autonomy into aviation systems. Ursa Major operates at the intersection of propulsion, defense, and aerospace infrastructure. These companies are difficult to build, difficult to scale, and difficult to understand from a distance. That complexity is precisely the moat.

Market Context: Venture Capital Is Rotating Back Toward Industry

The broader market backdrop matters here because Eclipse is not operating in isolation. Several macroeconomic and geopolitical forces are reshaping venture investment priorities. Supply chain fragility exposed weaknesses in global manufacturing dependencies during the pandemic era. Governments across the United States and allied economies began prioritizing reshoring initiatives, domestic manufacturing investment, semiconductor independence, and industrial resilience. Defense technology regained strategic relevance. Energy infrastructure modernization accelerated. AI compute shortages pushed advanced hardware infrastructure into the center of enterprise conversations.

Suddenly, industrial systems stopped looking boring. This has created a noticeable shift in how institutional investors evaluate “hard tech” and infrastructure startups. Categories previously dismissed as too capital-intensive now attract serious attention because the alternative is strategic vulnerability. Venture capital is rediscovering the simple reality that economies still rely on factories, transportation networks, energy systems, aviation, logistics infrastructure, and defense manufacturing to function.

Eclipse built an investment identity around that thesis before the market narrative fully caught up. That timing matters. A large percentage of venture firms now discuss industrial resilience, AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and supply chain modernization. Eclipse positioned itself there years earlier, which gives the firm stronger pattern recognition in sectors many investors only recently started studying seriously.

The Eclipse Portfolio Reflects a Systems-Level Thesis

One of the clearest signals about any venture firm is whether the portfolio tells a coherent story. Eclipse’s does.

Augury focuses on machine health and predictive industrial intelligence. Arc electrifies marine transportation. Enovix develops advanced lithium-ion battery technology. Cellares tackles scalable cell therapy manufacturing infrastructure. VulcanForms pushes advanced manufacturing systems. Cerebras Systems addresses compute bottlenecks tied to AI workloads.

Different sectors. Same underlying philosophy. Eclipse consistently backs startups rebuilding physical systems through integrated software, automation, data infrastructure, manufacturing innovation, and advanced engineering. This systems-level approach separates Eclipse from firms that primarily optimize around software abstraction layers. Eclipse appears more interested in foundational infrastructure than incremental workflow improvements. The firm repeatedly gravitates toward categories where operational execution, industrial expertise, and long-term infrastructure relevance matter more than short-term hype cycles. That distinction is becoming increasingly important as markets reward durability over novelty.

What Eclipse Signals About the Future of Venture Capital

The rise of firms like Eclipse reflects a larger philosophical shift happening inside technology investing.

The previous startup era prioritized frictionless digital scale. The next era increasingly revolves around resilience, infrastructure, compute power, automation, industrial modernization, energy transition, and national competitiveness. Software remains essential, but software alone no longer explains where strategic value accrues. Physical systems are becoming programmable.

Factories are becoming intelligent. Defense systems are becoming autonomous. Energy infrastructure is becoming software-defined. Logistics networks are becoming AI-optimized. Manufacturing increasingly depends on advanced compute, robotics, and machine intelligence. That convergence creates a different type of startup ecosystem than the one Silicon Valley spent the last decade celebrating.

Eclipse appears built specifically for that environment. The firm’s organizational structure, investment focus, partner backgrounds, and portfolio composition all point toward a venture strategy designed for companies operating where software collides with real-world infrastructure. That positioning carries more relevance today than it did when Eclipse launched in 2015. Markets eventually rotate back toward fundamentals. Eclipse built an entire venture platform around that assumption.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Eclipse?

Eclipse is a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Lior Susan. The firm focuses on startups transforming the physical economy through manufacturing, logistics, AI infrastructure, robotics, defense technology, energy systems, and industrial automation.

Who founded Eclipse?

Eclipse was founded by Lior Susan, who currently serves as Founder and CEO.

What sectors does Eclipse invest in?

Eclipse invests across manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, defense technology, transportation, advanced compute, healthcare infrastructure, robotics, industrial automation, energy, and electrification.

What are notable Eclipse portfolio companies?

Notable Eclipse portfolio companies include Cerebras Systems, Bright Machines, VulcanForms, Cellares, Augury, Arc, Reliable Robotics, Enovix, and Ursa Major.

Why is Eclipse important in venture capital?

Eclipse represents a broader venture capital shift toward infrastructure, industrial systems, AI compute, defense technology, and the physical economy as global markets prioritize resilience and modernization.

Are Eclipse portfolio companies hiring?

Yes. Eclipse maintains a portfolio jobs platform at jobs.eclipse.capital featuring roles across engineering, AI, manufacturing, logistics, operations, robotics, and defense technology.