Seattle gets another $1B startup: Here’s the latest in industrial AI development

Seattle’s emergence as a hub for companies building the next generation of industrial technology marks another great start.

Los Angeles-based Nominal, whose software helps engineers build, test and certify complex hardware systems, is establishing a permanent Seattle office as it ramps up hiring and looks for a bigger home in the region.

The nearly four-year-old company currently employs 11 people at its downtown Seattle coworking space, and expects to double that number by the end of the year.

The company is also moving Chief Product Officer Stephen Slattery, formerly director of technical operations at Anduril Industries for defense technology, from Los Angeles to Seattle to oversee the new office. Employing approximately 200 employees worldwide, Nominal also operates offices in Austin, New York, Washington, DC, and London.

Seattle’s focus on technology and aerospace talent, as well as its proximity to key partners and customers, has attracted the fast-growing company.

Independent CEO Cameron McCord said Seattle is one of the few US markets with many engineers experienced in solving large infrastructure and trust issues. Seattle’s aerospace heritage also attracted the company.

“One of the magic of Nominal is putting them in the same room,” McCord told GeekWire.

The company has 75 clients, almost half of which are in the defense sector. It also sells its software to companies in the energy, robotics and automotive fields.

The Seattle expansion comes just months after Nominal raised about $80 million in funding led by its $1 billion Founders Fund, part of a growing trend for companies serving industries where artificial intelligence is accelerating global innovation.

“The name exists to help these engineering teams rethink their data supply chain: the end-to-end flow from tools through acquisition, storage, analysis, reporting, and decisions that shape the next design,” the company wrote in the funding announcement.

Seattle has become a hotbed for companies working at the intersection of AI and the virtual world, and some of the fastest-growing local startups — including Overland AI, Carbon Robotics, Brinc and Stoke Space — help define the category.

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In recent months, security company Anduril has expanded its operations in the Seattle area. AI infrastructure startup Armada – such as Nominal backed by the Founders Fund – and AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI have also opened new offices or expanded engineering centers in the region.

Nominal’s McCord, a former US submarine officer and nuclear engineer who worked at Anduril, said interviews with former colleagues, including Anduril founder and COO Matt Grimm, helped strengthen Seattle’s appeal.

“I was able to get a lot of advice and thoughts on what it would look like to successfully enter the Seattle market,” McCord said. “Everything from him is amazingly good in terms of talent and density.”

While Nominal has gained traction among defense contractors — McCord said four out of five U.S. defense companies use its software — he said the company sees opportunities in many industries. The energy sector – including nuclear, fusion and batteries- and data center infrastructure for AI are growing areas of interest for the small company.

The Seattle office will be located in addition to the engineering center. McCord said Seattle will be a multi-functional hub, with engineering, sales, customer success, design and other groups represented as it grows.

The company expects the Seattle office to reach about 20 to 25 employees by the end of this year and could double to 40 or 50 employees by the end of 2027. It is currently looking for permanent office space, possibly targeting downtown Seattle.

McCord said the Seattle office will play a key role in Nominal’s growth as it looks to rethink the unique challenges industrial companies face in building hardware systems for this new era.

“There is a huge market opportunity as the world is revitalizing industries,” he said.

See this interview with Paul Kwan’s General Catalyst McCord for more on the company: