Nominal Hits $1B Valuation, Gets Sequoia Spotlight — Hardware Testing AI Platform Secures 4 of 5 Largest US Defense Contractors

Sequoia Capital·medium signal

Sequoia Capital published a May 21 spotlight on Nominal, the LA-based hardware testing platform that reached unicorn status after raising $155M in 10 months ($75M Series B from Sequoia, then $80M extension led by Founders Fund at $1B valuation). The platform replaces fragmented Excel/manual workflows for testing physical systems, now serving 75 customers across aerospace, defense, energy, and autonomous systems — including four of the five largest US defense contractors acquired in under a year. Nominal is integrating AI for automated data collection and edge computing for systems operating without connectivity, a critical requirement for astronautics applications.