Navier, a San Francisco-based startup developing autonomous engineering teams for hardware design and development, has raised $5.6 million in seed funding and launched from stealth. The round included participation from GV (Google Ventures), HCVC, and Y Combinator, as the company positions its technology as a new productivity layer that automates repetitive work between design and engineering groups.
The company is introducing what it calls Agent-Driven Engineering, an approach that uses AI agents to handle time-consuming workflows that sit between CAD design and engineering validation. Navier is pitching the concept as the next major step in engineering productivity after the rise of computer-aided design in the 1960s and the spread of simulation software in the 1990s, arguing that even modern engineering teams still lose significant time to simulation setup, tool coordination, and cross-discipline translation.
Navier said its platform is designed to enhance existing CAD and simulation tools rather than replace them, letting teams keep current workflows while adding automated translation between design concepts and validation requirements. The company is also aiming to simplify infrastructure complexity by consolidating AI agents, compute, and tool integrations into one platform, reducing the coordination burden that can contribute to delays and rework when handoffs break down between design and engineering teams.
Built by a team with experience across SpaceX, Tesla, and Aurora, Navier’s agents use computer vision and spatial reasoning to interpret 3D geometry and align design intent with engineering tests. The platform also supports continuous validation through parallel testing and automated reporting, with the goal of helping teams catch misalignments earlier and iterate faster.
Navier said it will use the new funding to continue developing the platform and expand deployments across aerospace and automotive companies, where it believes agent-driven workflows can meaningfully compress development timelines and improve iteration efficiency.
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“In the same way design and engineering projects used to require as many as a hundred draftspeople before the advent of CAD, our agents empower nimble teams to automate repetitive tasks, scale processes, and dramatically shorten project timelines,” said Cameron Flannery, Founder and CEO of Navier. “Instead of spending hours setting up a simulation case, we can do that in a couple of minutes, meaning teams can focus on doing what they do best: innovating, building, and solving hard problems.”
Cameron Flannery, Founder and CEO, Navier
“As a former semiconductor design engineer for 12 years and an ex-founder, I have experienced some deep pain in simulation speeds and the often unexplainable gap to the actual performance. When I met Navier, it instantly clicked for me. The teams we’re backing are solving collaboration problems that cost hardware companies millions in delays and failed iterations,” said Jerry Yang, General Partner at HCVC. “When design and engineering teams can work together in real-time with AI handling the translation between disciplines, you compress development cycles from months to weeks, with much fewer unpleasant surprises. That changes the economics of hardware companies completely.”
Jerry Yang, General Partner, HCVC
