With Sift, two ex-SpaceX engineers are bringing the software that helped launch rockets to the factory floor

Sift, founded by former SpaceX engineers Karthik Gollapudi and Austin Spiegel, is applying the data infrastructure software used for rocket launches to the broader manufacturing sector. The El Segundo-based company recently closed a $42 million Series B funding round, led by StepStone with participation from GV and others, valuing the company at $274 million. Sift's core technology manages the intense, real-time telemetry data streamed from sensors on complex physical assets, a capability honed while its founders worked on software tools at SpaceX.

The shift towards AI-driven manufacturing has rapidly accelerated Sift's relevance. While the company initially focused on customized workflows, the explosion of AI tools for data analysis has made its ability to structure and store vast datasets a critical differentiator. Sift's platform is designed to handle data from systems with over 1.5 million sensors streaming concurrently across multiple formats, organizing it to be 'machine readable' for AI agents that can analyze test data and flag potential problems in manufacturing processes. This infrastructure is vital for clients like satellite company Astranis, which can run 10 million automated software tests in a single day, where inefficient data storage can cost millions monthly.

Sift's customer base spans major aerospace and defense contractors like United Launch Alliance to robotics and power grid startups, highlighting the universal need for robust data foundations in physical manufacturing. CEO Gollapudi notes that AI's arrival compressed their five-year vision into a single year, transforming their data management offering from a supporting tool into a core enabler of factory automation. As manufacturing becomes more software-intensive, Sift positions itself as the essential pipeline that feeds reliable, structured data to the AI systems making operational decisions.