Sequoia Leads $75 Million Deal for Industrial Software Startup

Sequoia Capital is leading a $75 million funding round for Nominal Inc., a company developing software for the growing crop of companies working on space, energy and defense technology.

Nominal’s tools allow companies making hardware like planes, drones, ships and other products to more easily test their designs and monitor their progress. The startup fits into a broader Silicon Valley push into traditionally analog business like industrial manufacturing and national security.

“A satellite, a rocket engine, a nuclear reactor, a robotic arm — all of these are fundamentally computers now — but they’re generating more data than a computer did six or seven years ago,” said ...