AlleyCorp Deep Tech | September 2025 Newsletter
Firmware to Fusion — the deep tech swell begins to surge
Hey friends —
Welcome back (and welcome to the fall season). This edition recaps September and blends big portfolio news (👀 Root Access, Eyebot, Valar, Aescape, Civ), our take on the next generation of “Software for Hardware”, a new community partnership in NYC robotics, and a curated roll-up of deep-tech reads.
Thanks for reading,
~Brannon
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PS - We are changing our address! Next time this newsletter will come from scifact@substack.com so be on the lookout.
Portfolio Updates
Root Access comes out of stealth
Our newest deep tech portfolio company, Root Access publicly launched with an AI-native toolchain for embedded/firmware engineers — configure peripherals & pinouts, generate portable firmware, and compile across toolchains without wrestling vendor cruft. They say it best : “generate accurate, portable firmware that adapts as your hardware architecture evolves.”
They also received buzz in The Robot Report highlighting the “firmware bottleneck” they’re tackling.
As builders who’ve combed through a lot of archaic datasheets / obscure pinout diagrams, Abe and I know that the engineering world needs this layer - It’s time to rage with the machines baby 🤘🤖🎸
Eyebot’s Series A Raise
Big month for Eyebot: the company announced a $20M Series A led by General Catalyst to scale its 90-second vision-test kiosks and doctor-verified prescriptions. We are excited to continue to see them bring this tech into the world at scale, lifting margins for their partners, and providing critical goods to every day people (i.e. the 65% of the world’s humans who wear glasses!).
Read about it… everywhere
Axios Exclusive; TechCrunch Feature; Official Press Release; Eyebot Blog; General Catalyst Blog; Fierce Healthcare; WSJ: Venture Capital; Boston Business Journal; Vision Monday; FinSMEs; Yahoo! Finance (picked up from TechCrunch); AlleyWatch; Pulse 2.0; Eyewear Intelligence; Founders Today; Venture Capital; VC News Daily; Fitt Insider; BEAMSMART; TechNews 180; Startup News; Hit Consultant
Valar Atomics — selected under EO 14301
Valar Atomics announced selection by DOE to achieve criticality on U.S. soil by July 4, 2026, pursuant to Executive Order 14301, with Utah test-site prep underway, and support from Secretary Wright. Read the company’s post for the full note and what’s next.
Fun additional context: industry press flagged Utah ground-breaking progress this month American Nuclear Society
Aescape × Tom Brady
Aescape named Tom Brady Chief Innovation Officer and acquired exclusive rights to his longevity protocols — a striking brand + product ambition combo as the company scales robot-powered recovery. aescape.com
Civ Robotics on CNBC
Civ Robotics was featured by CNBC for its CivDot autonomous layout robots — marking thousands of solar array points per day and accelerating clean-energy buildouts. Civ’s newsroom summarizes the CNBC segments and broader coverage slate. civrobotics.com
Software for Hardware — 1-Page Executive Summary
We published our new thesis this month: “Software for Hardware → Hardware like Software.” Read the full thing here, then share it with a hard-tech friend who’s heads-down building in this category. Exec sum below, for those pressed for time.
The hook: Modern hardware teams win by treating physical systems like software — short cycles, reproducible builds, portable code, robust simulation, and data-rich ops. New “industrial DataOps” layers and AI-assisted tooling are collapsing friction between OT and IT, letting small teams push capability into hardware systems faster than ever.
Why now (condensed):
Tooling maturity: Compiler/config generators, model-based design, and multi-toolchain build systems. (See: Root Access — portfolio example squarely in this gap.) Root Access
AI for embodiment: Foundation-model techniques + teleop/learning pipelines are finally usable in production settings (with realistic caveats about sim-to-real and data).
Portability pressure: Hardware specialization and fragmented stacks tax innovation; portability layers and co-design frameworks are rising to counter it. arXiv
Data exhaust → performance: Continuous collection/labeling from deployed fleets is the compounding edge in autonomy & controls.
Call to founders: If you’re building the config/compile/test infra, the sim→real data engine, or the observability & orchestration tiers for physical systems — we want to talk. Root Access is one great example; we intend to keep investing in this layer for the good of all.
🤝 AlleyCorp partners with New York Robotics (NYR)
AlleyCorp is thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with New York Robotics (NYR), a nonprofit founded in January 2024 that has become a hub for robotics & embodied AI across the tri-state. NYR collaborates with university labs, startups, manufacturers, workforce programs, investors, government, consulates, venture studios, incubators, accelerators, and service providers — from Buffalo to Brooklyn and Philly to New Haven.
2025 snapshot: 11 events (six during NYC Tech Week) and multiple programs aimed at catalyzing commercialization and contributing to both national and global robotics ecosystems.
Through this partnership, AlleyCorp will support NYR’s mission and help accelerate the region’s robotics momentum.
Deep Tech News We’re Following
Figure AI: >$1B Series C at $39B post; ramping humanoid scale-up and partnerships. FigureAI
“Golden age” for robotics startups: Eclipse’s view on why the category is structurally better now (lower costs, better stacks). TechCrunch
VC essay: Euclid on incentives & behavior (“We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us”). Provocative macro framing. insights.euclid.vc
Defense tech: Inside naval-systems unicorn Saronic’s pitch and positioning. Newcomer
Consumer devices: Nothing raises $200M Series C at $1.3B to pursue an AI-native OS. Tech.eu
Geothermal: Rodatherm emerges with $38M Series A; Utah pilot and AGS focus. TechCrunch
Agri-PV: Munich’s feld.energy raises >€10M seed to double up farmland as solar. EU-Startups
Micro-factories: “Dog-crate-sized” robot factory that learns from humans — compact, clever cell design. TechCrunch
Quantum: PsiQuantum raises $1B Series E; Chicago and Brisbane sites move ahead, NVIDIA partnership online. PsiQuantum
More good reads from some of our favorite deep tech investors: Cantos’s “State of Adventure Capital” • F-Prime’s Robotics Roundup
Thanks for reading — and as always, if you’re building in deep tech (or “software for hardware”), we want to meet you. Keep building! 🚀
— Abe & Brannon | AlleyCorp Deep Tech