A glance at recent investments by Eclipse Ventures reveals a clear and deliberate shift toward what industry insiders now describe as the “physical world,” as the Palo Alto based venture capital firm ramps up funding for startups building real world, AI driven solutions. With a sharp increase in deal sizes in recent years, the firm has backed companies such as Arc, Redwood Materials, Bedrock Robotics, Wayve, and Mind Robotics.
Buoyed by $1.3 billion in fresh capital, split between a $591 million early stage incubation fund and a separate growth focused vehicle, Eclipse is positioning itself at the forefront of what it sees as the next major technological shift. Partner Jiten Behl described this moment as a transition from digital innovation confined to screens toward intelligent systems capable of acting in the physical world, marking a significant evolution from earlier waves such as the internet, mobile cloud, and social media.
According to Behl, the rise of what is increasingly termed “physical AI” is being driven by a convergence of talent, technological progress, market demand, and supportive policy frameworks. He noted that the firm’s substantial capital base provides it with the leverage to support startups across their entire lifecycle, while making meaningful inroads into sectors that merge artificial intelligence with tangible, real world applications.
Rather than simply backing isolated ventures, Eclipse is pursuing a broader ecosystem strategy, targeting sectors including transportation, energy, infrastructure, computing, and defense. The firm aims to build interconnected startups that can collaborate early, scale faster, and leverage shared data to strengthen their competitive edge. In some cases, Eclipse plans to incubate companies internally, with Behl confirming that work has already begun on new ventures focused on cross sector integration and enterprise level solutions powered by advanced AI systems.