The Physical World Is Entering Its Own Software Moment, Said Aydin Senkut, Felicis Founder and Early Google Employee

Felicis, the Bay Area venture capital firm known for backing Shopify, Notion, and Mercor, has hired Graham Littlehale as a partner to lead investments in hard-tech startups spanning aerospace, defense, energy, manufacturing, and robotics. Littlehale joins from Point72 Ventures, where he was an early member of its national security investing team and backed Stoke Space, a reusable rocket developer, and Rune Technologies, which builds military logistics software. The hire signals Felicis's push into physical-world companies, joining its existing portfolio of CoreWeave, Crusoe, and Skild AI.

"The physical world is entering its own software moment, said Aydin Senkut, Felicis founder and early Google employee. "Graham has spent his career backing founders at the forefront of hard tech transformations. The move comes as venture investors renew interest in hardware, with robotics and physical AI startups raising $16.3 billion across 492 deals in Q1 2026, the strongest quarter on record, per PitchBook.

Littlehale began his career a decade ago investing in natural resources and energy infrastructure, then worked at self-driving startup Nuro from 2021 to 2022 before joining Point72. At Felicis, he plans to focus on manufacturing foundation models, digital tools for hardware development, and industry-specific robots. He also sees robotics foundation models following a reverse path from chatbots, starting with task-specific skills before generalizing. Littlehale will pursue space and undersea technology investments, citing his recent bet on Endurance Energy, a geothermal startup.

"That is not something you can invest in based on a hype cycle, he said. "It is a decadeslong bet.