Nominal raised a $240 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation to build AI tools for hardware engineers. The company wants software that connects to equipment, test data and engineering context so teams can inspect the evidence behind an answer.

Nominal, a startup that offers an AI platform for hardware engineering and claims Anduril as a major customer, has raised another big round of financing that triples its valuation.

Nominal, a startup building software to make manufacturing more efficient, has raised $240 million in funding at a $3 billion valuation, triple what it was worth in a funding round earlier this year.

Nomura on data center delay impact on memory: "Considering big tech companies' various responses and memory makers' long-term supply agreements (LTAs), the impact on the memory market from 2028F onward is likely to be milder than the market fears. Even if some data center projects are delayed, we believe memory makers can preemptively adjust supply in 2+ years later through LTAs, limiting the risk of severe oversupply." $MU $DRAM $EWY $SKHY

Nomura: We estimate the total global substrate supply (3 Inch equivalent) will increase from 1.4 million units in 2026F to 3.55 million units in 2028F, and the market size will grow from $599 million to $2.5 billion in the same period.

Nomura: we estimate the 800G/1.6T optical transceiver shipments will grow from 55.0mn/25.1mn units in 2026F to 112.0mn/104.5mn units in 2028F, which should be the key driver for InP substrates. $COHR $AXTI $AAOI $LITE

Nomura: laser chip shipment volume is forecasted to grow from 480 million units in 2026 to 966 million units in 2027, and reach over 1.5 billion units by 2028. CW laser experiences the largest expansion, growing by 402 million units (from 171 million in 2026F to 573 million in 2028F). $COHR $LITE $AAOI $AVGO

Nomura: Data center memory and storage demand continues to heavily outpace supply growth (constrained at 20–25% in 2026F–2027F). Demand growth for eSSDs will moderate to 50–60% in 2027F (from 110% in 2026F), while Server DRAM holds steady at 70% growth in both 2026F and 2027F. HBM demand is projected to grow 50% in 2026F and 50–60% in 2027F. $MU $DRAM $SNDK $EWY $SKHY

Nomura: Based on our latest tracking, incorporating project delays, cancellations and additions, we now have 51 GW-scale data center projects in our tracking base. Our latest calculation indicates 26GW/40GW/28GW incremental deployment in 2026F/2027F/2028F, from 27/32/23 GW in June update. We estimate 26GW/40GW/28GW could translate into the demand for 5-8mn AI chips. $NVDA $AMD $GOOGL $META $MSFT $SPCX $AMZN