OpenAI Competitor Flux Raises $37M
AI hardware engineering startup Flux has announced $37 million in new investment led by 8VC. The company, which focuses on hardware-software co-design for AI workloads, has crossed one million sign-ups for its platform.
The new funding includes a $27M Series B led by 8VC and reveals a previously unannounced $10M Series A, with participation from firms like Bain Capital Ventures and Liquid 2 Ventures. 8VC has been a long-term backer, writing the company's first check and supporting its vision to expand the market from professional electrical engineers to the entire universe of makers. Flux's platform functions as an "AI hardware engineer," allowing users to design printed circuit boards (PCBs) using natural language prompts directly in a web browser. The AI handles the entire workflow, from planning layouts and sourcing components to running tests and generating manufacturing files, even suggesting ways to cut costs or avoid supply chain issues. The company was co-founded by CEO Matthias Wagner, who previously worked on both hardware and software at Meta. He was inspired to start Flux after realizing the tools for creating electronics had not meaningfully improved during his career, aiming to make building hardware as accessible as building a website. The one million user milestone has resulted in nearly 6.5 million devices being designed on the platform. Use cases range from an IoT device that extracts data from construction machinery to custom electronics for distribution in Africa and even advanced organ-on-chip platforms used for drug discovery.
