Navier Raises $5.6M to Deploy Agent-Driven Engineering, the Next Engineering Unlock After CAD and Simulation

December 15, 2025 at 08:00 AM EST

Navier, which builds autonomous engineering teams for hardware design and development, today announced $5.6 million in seed funding and its launch from stealth. The round includes participation from GV (Google Ventures), HCVC, and Y Combinator.

Engineering has undergone two major productivity shifts: Computer-Aided Design (CAD) replaced manual drafting in the 1960s, then simulation software enabled virtual testing in the 1990s. Each shift reduced overhead requirements while expanding what engineers and designers could accomplish. Navier introduces the third shift: Agent-Driven Engineering (ADE), in which AI agents automate repetitive workflows between design and engineering disciplines, which still consume a significant portion of an engineer's time.

"In the same way design and engineering projects used to require as many as a hundred draftspeople before the advent of CAD, our agents empower nimble teams to automate repetitive tasks, scale processes, and dramatically shorten project timelines," said Cameron Flannery, Founder and CEO of Navier. "Instead of spending hours setting up a simulation case, we can do that in a couple of minutes, meaning teams can focus on doing what they do best: innovating, building, and solving hard problems."

Navier's ADE enhances existing CAD and simulation tools, enabling teams to maintain their current workflows while gaining automated cross-disciplinary translation. Previously, companies had to piece together a patchwork of vendors for software licenses, compute management, and other tools while manually coordinating the various systems. This complexity was furthered by the need to translate terms and processes within engineering or design disciplines.

Navier empowers teams of any size to triple their output by developing repeatable workflows and improving the scalability of smaller teams. By consolidating the entire stack into a single platform that combines AI agents, compute infrastructure, and seamless tool integration, Navier's AI agents reduce the engineering gap that leads to costly delays. Additionally, the reduced friction enables teams to explore higher-order use cases and capabilities, pushing the boundaries of what was previously possible.

Built on proven autonomous vehicle technology from SpaceX, Tesla, and Aurora experts, Navier’s agents leverage computer vision and spatial reasoning to interpret 3D geometry and automatically align design concepts with engineering validation needs. Further, Navier’s ADE platform enables continuous validation through parallel testing and automated reporting, allowing teams to catch design-engineering misalignments.

"As a former semiconductor design engineer for 12 years and an ex-founder, I have experienced some deep pain in simulation speeds and the often unexplainable gap to the actual performance. When I met Navier, it instantly clicked for me. The teams we're backing are solving collaboration problems that cost hardware companies millions in delays and failed iterations," said Jerry Yang, General Partner at HCVC. "When design and engineering teams can work together in real-time with AI handling the translation between disciplines, you compress development cycles from months to weeks, with much fewer unpleasant surprises. That changes the economics of hardware companies completely."

The funding will support platform development and expansion across aerospace and automotive companies, where ADE represents the next performance increase after CAD and simulation.

About Navier:

Navier is a startup building autonomous engineering teams for hardware design and development. Its Agent-Driven Engineering (ADE) streamlines engineering workflows by eliminating time spent on mundane tasks through the application of proven autonomous vehicle technology. By democratizing engineering capabilities, the platform enables teams of any size to leverage advanced tools, multiplying their impact. Teams can now achieve in days what previously took large engineering departments weeks to develop. For more information, visit www.navier.ai.