Ex-SpaceX engineer raises $65M to modernize wire harness manufacturing

Senra CEO Jordan Black, a former SpaceX engineer, co-founded the company in 2023 with Benjamin Shanahan to modernize wire harness manufacturing, which still relies on Cold War-era manual processes. Today, the startup announced a $65 million Series B round co-led by Lowercarbon and Interlagos, with participation from General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund.

Wire harnesses are custom-made electrical cabling systems critical for modern vehicles, including rockets, cars, and planes. They are typically assembled by skilled technicians. Black believes the industry is outdated, and Senra offers a software platform called Amp that standardizes inputs and creates a digital twin to guide technicians. The company also runs what Black claims is the only federally certified wire harness training program.

While Senra does not aim to fully replace humans with robots—since wire manipulation remains challenging for robots and training data is scarce—it increasingly automates parts of the process. Black cites the "automation is last" principle from Elon Musk, emphasizing standardization first. Senra currently produces 1,000 harnesses per month across two factories and aims to increase to 10,000 per month by 2027.

Senra's customers include manufacturers of submarines, maritime vehicles, ground defense systems, launch vehicles, and satellites. Black points to the 2023 Boeing Starliner incident, where flammable tape was used on wiring, as a cautionary tale for the need for higher standards. The company's name is "harness" spelled backward minus the 'h' and 's', reflecting its goal to eliminate the "horseshit" from harness production.