Eclipse Ventures is celebrating a massive financial victory following the public market debut of semiconductor company Cerebras Systems, marking a significant milestone for the venture capital firm’s long standing focus on physical world technology investments.

Founder Lior Susan explained that when Eclipse launched in 2015, its strategy of investing in hardware, manufacturing, robotics, and industrial technologies was not widely embraced in Silicon Valley.

At the time, most investors were focused heavily on software and Software as a Service companies. That early conviction has now produced substantial returns. Eclipse’s initial investment of 6.5 million dollars in Cerebras reportedly evolved into a return valued at approximately 2.5 billion dollars following the chipmaker’s stock market debut.

The firm ultimately invested a total of 147 million dollars into the company. Susan believes the success validates Eclipse’s broader thesis that much of the global economy remains tied to physical industries rather than purely digital services. He argued that sectors such as semiconductors, robotics, energy, and defense are becoming increasingly attractive as investors search for stronger long term competitive advantages.

According to Susan, advances in artificial intelligence have also shifted attention back toward hardware infrastructure, particularly because physical technologies require manufacturing capabilities, supply chains, and specialized facilities that cannot easily be replicated through software alone.

Eclipse’s portfolio companies reportedly attracted nearly 15 billion dollars in outside investment last year, with momentum continuing strongly into 2026. Susan described the current environment as a rare moment in which technology innovation, investor capital, government support, customer demand, and engineering talent are aligning simultaneously to fuel a new era of industrial and technological growth.

Source: TechCrunch