A new Cambridge startup emerged from stealth Monday with plans to revolutionize the development of defense, agricultural and industrial equipment.
Istari, which raised $13 million in seed funding from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and other investors, is developing machine learning technology that can model and simulate the design and testing work that goes into engineering defense systems and other physical technology.
By eliminating the logistical barriers of the real world, Istari could help engineering teams reduce the time and costs of product development.
“At Istari, we’re enabling all technology to be created — and continually perfected — digitally. Software ate the world, and now hardware can too via the magic of collaborative models,” Istari founder and CEO Will Roper said in a statement. “We can design things, test things — in general, learn things — faster, cheaper and greener than the physical universe allows.”
Before founding Istari in May, Roper served as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Air Force, an advisor for McKinsey & Company and the director of the Secretary of Defense’s strategic capabilities office.
Istari has already secured nine government and commercial contracts. Now that the company has launched publicly, it plans to recruit new employees. Istari is currently working to fill open positions across engineering, finance and business development.
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