A SpaceX vet raised $65M to pull wire harnesses out of the Cold War era
Startup Senra has raised $65 million to modernize the manufacturing of wire harnesses, which are currently produced using outdated, manual processes. The company aims to improve safety and efficiency in aerospace and defense manufacturing through software and automation.
Why it matters
Modernizing critical infrastructure components like wiring is essential for the reliability of next-generation vehicles, rockets, and defense systems.
When Senra CEO Jordan Black was a SpaceX engineer, he took on the job of scaling up the company’s wire harnesses to support production of Starship, the company’s next-generation rocket.
Wire harnesses are what they sound like: the internal electrical cabling that runs through a rocketship, car, plane, or tractor and becomes increasingly important the smarter those vehicles get. They’re bespoke, put together by technicians who are, functionally, experienced craftspeople.
“I traveled all over the world to go visit wire harness companies,” Black told TechCrunch last month. “It really hasn’t changed since the Cold War era of wooden tables [and] manual processes.”
Black and co-founder Benjamin Shanahan started Senra in 2023 to offer a more modern solution to vehicle manufacturers. Today, the startup is announcing a $65 million Series B round, co-led by Lowercarbon and Interlagos with participation from General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund, among others.
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