Nominal triples to $3B on $240M Lightspeed-Insight round

Nominal, a software platform used by hardware companies to test and monitor designs, has raised $240 million at a $3 billion valuation, about triple the $1 billion mark it reached in March. Bloomberg reported that Lightspeed Venture Partners and Insight Partners led the round, with Lux Capital, Sequoia Capital and Lockheed Martin Ventures joining.

The customer list is the pitch. "More than 80 commercial and government organizations use Nominal's software, including five of the seven largest defense contractors," per the reporting. The company sells into defense, space, energy and automotive buyers.

CEO and co-founder Cameron McCord is a former U.S. Navy submarine officer and an Anduril alum who logged 484 days underwater as a nuclear submarine officer. Anduril is now a marquee customer: the two companies have worked together for about 18 months, and Nominal is deployed across half of Anduril's programs.

Revenue "has more than tripled so far this year," aided by a boom in defense technology spending. The new capital, the company says, goes to product development and expanding into new regions and industries.

The round joins a steady run of defense-adjacent raises our funding desk has been chronicling, alongside 422 other funding stories we've logged in the past 90 days.