Lyte, a Sunnyvale, California-based physical AI startup, raised $165 million in Series C funding at a $1.6 billion post-money valuation. The financing, led by Maverick Silicon, brings Lyte's total raised to $272 million. Fidelity Management And Research Co., which led Lyte's Series B, also participated in the Series C, along with Atreides Management, Key1 Capital, Ora Global (formerly Exor Ventures), and additional existing and new investors.

The startup was founded in 2021 by Alexander Shpunt, Arman Hajati and Yuval Gerson — former Apple engineers who worked on advanced sensing and perception technologies. Their past work helped bring 3D perception to the mainstream and later became a foundation for Apple's Face ID technology. Alexander Shpunt, CEO and co-founder of Lyte AI, stated that physical AI will create entirely new categories of robots requiring precise, real-time understanding of geometry and motion.

Lyte is building custom silicon, 4D sensing, RGB, motion awareness and AI software to help robots sense where they are and what is moving around them. Initially, its customers are primarily in the warehousing and manufacturing industries. The startup operated in stealth until earlier this year when it emerged and announced it had raised $107 million in Series A and B funding.

Funding in the physical AI space has exploded in recent years. In the first half of 2026, global venture funding in the space totaled $47.4 billion across 521 deals, per Crunchbase data. That's up dramatically — almost 4x — compared to the second half of 2025 when physical AI startups raised $12 billion across 470 deals.