Manufacturing company Bright Machines gets $132M after not fulfilling SPAC deal • TechCrunch | So Good News

In May of last year, Bright Machines announced plans to take on the SPAC frenzy in a combined deal worth $1.6 billion to the Bay Area-based manufacturing company. However, as temperatures cooled for the process, so did his plans. The plug was pulled last December, more than a month before it was scheduled to be cut.

Even without the SPAC slowdown. Not ideal economics for such a large deal.

Today, The company took a more tried-and-true approach to fundraising, with $132 million in combined $100 million (led by founder Lior Susan’s own Eclipse Ventures) and $32 million in debt (co-led by Silicon Valley Bank and Hercules Capital). All told, The latest round brings the company to $330 million since its 2018 founding with a $179 million Series A round.

The funding comes as the U.S. takes an aggressive approach to reinvigorating domestic manufacturing thanks to economic stimulus bills like the CHIPS Act. Companies like Intel have invested billions to help diversify geographic semiconductor manufacturing. Bright Machines’ own vision is built around the concept of “micro-factories,” software-driven production lines that rely on robots and automation.

The company said it has deployed about 100 of these mini-factories in 13 countries since its inception. The latest funding will go towards accelerating its roadmap.