- Founding teams of Apple Face ID and Microsoft Kinect launch unified sensing platform for robotics.
- Raised a total of $107 million from prominent investors.
- Best of Innovation Award in Robotics and Vehicle Technology and Advanced Mobility at CES 2026.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lyte, an end-to-end integrated robotics and physical AI perception company, today comes out of stealth with $107 million in total funding. Its mission is to provide robots with the ability to see, understand, and safely operate in the physical world.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Lyte was founded by Alexander Shpunt, Arman Hajati, and Yuval Gerson, the key architects behind Apple's depth sensing and perception technology. CEO Alexander Shpunt co-founded and served as CTO of PrimeSense, the 3D sensing company behind Microsoft Kinect and later became the basis of Apple's depth platform after its acquisition in 2013.
Lyte has assembled a world-class team across sensing, silicon, and physical AI. Avigdor Wilentz, the company's founding investor and chairman of the board, is a pioneering semiconductor entrepreneur behind some of the most influential silicon platforms of the past 30 years.
The company has raised a total of $107 million from industry-leading investors including Avigdor Willenz's group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Atreides Management, Exor Ventures, Key1 Capital, and Venture Tech Alliance. With this funding, Lyte is building the cognitive foundation for autonomous machines. Its core product, LyteVision, integrates advanced 4D sensing, RGB imaging, and motion recognition into a single platform, delivering unified spatial and visual data through one connection. LyteVision enables a wide range of physical AI platforms, including autonomous mobile robots, robotic arms, quadrupedal robots, robotaxis, and humanoids. The system is designed for safety, reliability, and performance from the hardware down, combined with an AI-driven operating layer that continually advances with breakthroughs in vision, language, and action models, enabling physical AI systems to perceive, reason, and act, increasing intelligence over time.
According to leading researchers, the AI robot market is predicted to reach $125 billion by 20301However, according to McKinsey, more than 60% of industrial companies lack the in-house capability to implement robotic automation, including sensor integration.
The company's approach addresses structural problems in robotics. The team has now spent months gathering recognition from multiple vendors, tuning sensors, writing fusion software, and debugging integration failures. Lyte's vertically integrated stack eliminates that cycle.
“Physical AI will change the way the world works, but only if robots can clearly see it,” said CEO and co-founder Alexander Shupund. “After helping shape the way billions of people interact with technology, we assembled a special team to build the sentient layer that allows robots to operate safely and reliably at scale.”
“Lyte is being built at the right time and with the right layers,” said founding investor and chairman Avigdor Wilentz. “We've seen how foundational technology unlocks the potential of entire industries. What stands out here is the depth and discipline of our teams to solve system-aware perceptions, where lasting value is created.”
“Lyte is building the core infrastructure for Physical AI – the cognitive platform that enables robots to safely understand and interact with the real world,” said Gavin Baker, Managing Partner at Atreides Management. “The founders have already pioneered an era in 3D sensing and are among a select few with the credibility and technical depth to usher in a new frontier defined by consistent 4D vision and full-stack awareness.”
Lyte's recognition platform won the Best Innovation Award in Robotics at CES 2026 and was recognized as a winner in the Vehicle Technology and Advanced Mobility category, selected from a record 3,600 submissions. Lyte will be showcasing this technology at CES through private demonstrations by appointment only. Contact: info@lyte.ai
About the light
Lyte builds perception systems for physical AI that operate in complex environments. The company combines custom silicon, integrated sensors, and software to create integrated platforms for robotics, mobility, and next-generation automation. Lyte is headquartered in Mountain View, California and has a global presence. For more information, please visit www.lyte.ai.
1 All About AI aggregates research from Grand View Research, Mordor Intelligence, Precedence Research, and more. Investor Place
contact address
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