Former SpaceX Engineers' Senra Raises $65M to Modernize Cable Harness Manufacturing
Senra, a manufacturing startup founded in 2023 by former SpaceX engineers Jordan Black and Benjamin Shanahan, has raised a $65 million Series B funding round led by Lowercarbon and Interlagos, with participation from General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund .
The Problem They're Solving:
Wiring harness manufacturing remains stuck in a "Cold War-era" model—largely assembled by hand on wooden tables by skilled technicians. Black, who previously scaled wiring harness production for SpaceX's Starship program, states: "I traveled the world visiting countless wiring harness companies, and the industry has barely changed since the Cold War era" .
The Senra Approach:
Senra is not fully replacing humans with robots—cable manipulation remains complex for automation, and training data is scarce. Instead, the company uses its proprietary Amp software platform to standardize inputs across the entire wiring process and generate digital twins that guide technicians through standardized workflows .
Key Capabilities:
Tracks material status and engineering changes in a unified system
All technicians trained through Senra's federally certified program—the only one of its kind in the U.S.
Current monthly production: 1,000 harnesses across two factories
Target monthly production by 2027: 10,000 harnesses
Customer Base: Undisclosed, but spans submarines, maritime vessels, land-based defense vehicle systems, launch vehicles, and satellites. Senra is benefiting from the surge in U.S. manufacturing investment, particularly in the defense industrial base .
Senra's name is "harness" spelled backward minus the first and last letters—symbolizing the company's mission to "remove the bad practices from the wiring harness industry" .
