Best High Tech Companies in Pasadena, United States
The 54 best High Tech companies in Pasadena, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Rockley Photonics.
Our analysis of 306 High Tech companies
$95.7b in tracked funding; 95% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best High Tech companies in Pasadena
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founded | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockley Photonics Manufacturer of AI, cloud, and silicon-based photonics for high-speed networks | $290M | 45 mo ago | 230 | 2013 | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Embodied Provider of AI-powered educational robots for children to teach emotional and social skills through… 48Innovation top 21%Patents top 22%AI top 25%Funding top 28% All 12 signals ▾Innovationtop 21% Patentstop 22% AItop 25% Fundingtop 28% Moattop 28% Producttop 46% Talentbottom 49% Marketbottom 41% Globalbottom 40% Customersbottom 38% Techbottom 30% Growthbottom 25% Innovation: 55 patents (top 29% of patent-holders) · 43 filings since 2022 vs 12 in 2017-21 Patents: 55 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 43 filings since 2022 vs 12 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 48/100 | $86M | 43 mo ago | 41 | 2016 | Maja Mataric Co-Founder | — | 55 patents Conversational AI for robots/digital companions with multimodal dialog and scheduling | — |
| 3 | Miso Robotics Provider of robotic technology for assisting chefs 74AI top 15%Funding top 26%Tech top 26%Growth top 27% All 13 signals ▾AItop 15% Fundingtop 26% Techtop 26% Growthtop 27% Moattop 28% Patentstop 30% Producttop 37% Innovationtop 40% Talenttop 41% Fin. healthtop 50% Marketbottom 42% Globalbottom 37% Newsbottom 21% AI: Holds AI/ML patents (G06N-family CPC) Funding: Raised $65.0M across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 9 yrs (0.9/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 74/100 | $65M | 16 mo ago | 96 96 → 104 (+8%) | 2016 | Rich Hull Chief Executive Officer | WordPressMySQLPHP+34 | 49 patents Robotic kitchen automation for food preparation, cooking, and beverage dispensing | 2 launchs · 1 award |
| 4 | Elementary Developer of AI vision inspection systems for quality control automation | $48M | 26 mo ago | 37 | 2017 | Bill Gross Co-Founder | WebflowApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+15 | — | — |
| 5 | ObEN Photo-real 3D virtual avatar using AI | $24M | 102 mo ago | 12 | 2014 | Adam Zheng Co-Founder & COO | — | 14 patents Personalized neural speech synthesis and voice conversion technologies for custom TTS/voice. | — |
| 6 | GeoOptics Provider of Earth observation data and related analysis for various sectors | $23M | 59 mo ago | 5 | 2006 | Thomas Yunck Co-Founder & CTO | — | 18 patents Multistatic radar constellations for high‑resolution Earth observation and remote sensing | — |
| 7 | QLess Queue management solutions transforming customer service and operational efficiency | $19M | 91 mo ago | 38 38 → 52 (+37%) | 2007 | James Harvey Chief Executive Officer | WordPressApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+38 | 8 patents Digital queue and reservation management systems for customer flow optimization | 1 job opening |
| 8 | Binarly Provider of firmware security solutions | $14M | 27 mo ago | 4 | 2021 | Claudiu Teodorescu Co-Founder | WebflowYouTubeMicrosoft Clarity+21 | 11 patents ML-driven binary analysis for software supply chain risk identification and mitigation | 1 partnership |
| 9 | 3Laws Developer of robotic motion control software ensuring safety and efficiency | $6M | 21 mo ago | — | 2022 | Andrew S Co-founder and CEO | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+21 | — | — |
| 10 | 3Laws Robotics Provider of AI-based software for control of autonomous robots | $6M | 21 mo ago | 4 | 2022 | Andrew Singletary Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 11 | Tap Provider of a wearable keyboard with a gesture controller 50Tech top 26%Moat top 30%Product top 33%Growth top 35% All 12 signals ▾Techtop 26% Moattop 30% Producttop 33% Growthtop 35% Talenttop 38% Innovationtop 40% Fundingtop 49% Patentsbottom 47% Fin. healthbottom 47% Globalbottom 35% Customersbottom 32% Marketbottom 29% Tech: 68 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 7/10 · IP moat: 18 patents rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 50/100 | $6M | 10 mo ago | 17 | 2015 | Sabrina Kemeny Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+47 | 18 patents Pressurized beverage dispensing hardware and cap assemblies for bottled drinks | — |
| 12 | Launchpad AI-based software for analyzing and providing quotations from CAD files 21Talent top 38%Funding top 39%Moat top 41%AI top 45% All 9 signals ▾Talenttop 38% Fundingtop 39% Moattop 41% AItop 45% Techbottom 40% Patentsbottom 37% Globalbottom 37% Innovationbottom 26% Marketbottom 20% Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated Funding: Raised $4.0M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 4 yrs (0.8/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 21/100 | $4M | 9 mo ago | 7 | 2020 | Yoav Zingher Co-Founder & CEO | Webflowcore-jsjQuery+14 | 2 patents Ankle‑foot orthosis components: tuning kits and stirrup devices for gait support | 2 expansions |
| 13 | Advanced Telesensors Contactless vital signs detection | $3M | 85 mo ago | — | 2008 | Sajol Ghoshal CEO | — | — | — |
| 14 | LAFORGE Optical Prescription eyewear that syncs with smartphone and displays apps in AR medium | $2M | 131 mo ago | 3 | 2013 | Corey Mack CEO & Founder | — | 13 patents AR head‑mounted displays and vehicle‑to‑eyewear data exchange technologies | — |
| 15 | StereoVision Imaging Provider of facial recognition-based biometric identification systems | $908K | 101 mo ago | — | 2000 | M. Gregory Steinthal Founder & President | — | 49 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 16 | InnoDT Platform for cryptocurrency transaction analysis | $550K | 89 mo ago | 2 | 2018 | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Kanari Provider of a cloud-based speech recognition solution for various industries | $475K | 56 mo ago | 11 | 2020 | — | Tailwind CSSLiteSpeedIntercom+8 | — | — |
| 18 | Senseer Provider of remote patient health monitoring tools for senior care management | $225K | 84 mo ago | 6 | 2017 | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Flowly Provider of a mobile app to manage stress and anxiety | $125K | 58 mo ago | 10 | 2019 | Julien Soros Co-Founder | Webflow EcommerceWebflowcore-js+14 | — | — |
Top 12 High Tech companies in Pasadena
#1
Series E · Pasadena, California · founded 2016 · 96 employees$65Mraised▾
Provider of robotic technology for assisting chefs. It provides an autonomous robots for assisting chefs in kitchens. It is a cloud-based learning platform that has the capability to automatically identify and locate food and tools through 3D, thermal, and regular vision. It also offers autonomous robotic kitchen assistant that can learn from its surroundings and acquire new skills over time and can help in assistance with activities such as grilling, frying, and prepping ingredients.
- Feb 2025Series E$137K
- Mar 2023Series E$15M
- Nov 2021Series C$541.9K
- Jan 2021Series C$16.7M
#2
Series A · Pasadena, California · founded 2015 · 17 employees$6Mraised▾
Provider of a wearable keyboard with a gesture controller. When a user taps fingers or glides his thumb, a command is sent to a Bluetooth-connected device (phone, tablet, smartwatch, smart TV, VR/AR headset, or computer). The device comes for each finger (rings) and works in integration with a mobile application compatible with both Android and iOS.
- Aug 2025Series A$225K
- Aug 2025Conventional Debt—
- Feb 2024Series A$825K
- Jan 2022Seed$60K
#3
Series A · Pasadena, California · founded 2020 · 7 employees$4Mraised▾
AI-based software for analyzing and providing quotations from CAD files. It provides manufacturing industries a platform to analyze CAD files and provide an instant quote for the complete product. It also validates the design for manufacturing. It provides a variety of materials including electro-mechanical components, enclosures, and embedded electronics.
- Oct 2025Grant (prize money)$2.7M
- Oct 2025Series A$10.9M
- Feb 2022Conventional Debt—
- Feb 2022Series A$4M
#4
Series B · Pasadena, California · founded 2017 · 37 employees$47.5Mraised▾
Developer of AI vision inspection systems for quality control automation. The company provides systems for defect detection, sorting, and classification. It offers solutions for industries including food and beverage, automotive, and electronics. The company's platform supports traceability, analytics, and operational improvement.
- May 2024Series B—
- Dec 2021Series B$30M
- Jun 2020Series A$12.7M
- Dec 2018Seed$3.6M
#5
Seed · Pasadena, California · founded 2022$6.1Mraised▾
Developer of robotic motion control software ensuring safety and efficiency. The software dynamically reacts and re-plans robot motion in real-time. It uses mathematics to enable safety and certification requirements while maintaining robot motion. The technology is applicable to any system that moves.
- Oct 2024Seed$4.1M
- Jun 2022Seed$2M
#6
Seed · Pasadena, California · founded 2022 · 4 employees$6.1Mraised▾
Operator of a robotics platform intended to provide a supervisor for autonomous and human-operated robotic systems, monitoring and ensuring safety. The company's platform uses real-time safety analytics and robust collision avoidance software that quickly solves fundamental technical challenges behind delivering autonomy, enabling developers to build faster, safer, and cheaper innovation and lower time-to-resolution of issues.
#7
Public · Pasadena, California · founded 2013 · 230 employees$290Mraised▾
Manufacturer of AI, cloud, and silicon-based photonics for high-speed networks. It utilizes its multi-micron waveguide platform to develop silicon photonics. Its full-stack platform includes photonic and electronic integrated circuits, co-packaging systems, system architecture, hardware designing, firmware, and sensing algorithms. It also develops technology for an optical packet switch that shows considerable performance improvement and can enable scalable next-generation data center networks.
- Oct 2022Post IPO$10M
- May 2022Post IPO$81.5M
- Jan 2021Series F$65M
- Aug 2020Series E$50M
#8
Series B · Pasadena, California · founded 2016 · 41 employees$86.3Mraised▾
Provider of AI-powered educational robots for children to teach emotional and social skills through play-based conversational learning. It offers a platform, SocialX that provides a way to use natural human interaction to engage with technology.that offers conversational learning through play and allows kids to explore AI in a safe way with KidFilter technology.
- Nov 2022Series B$19.2M
- Sep 2021Series B$14.1M
- Mar 2020Series A$11.7M
- Jun 2018Series A$22M
#9
Seed · Pasadena, California · founded 2021 · 4 employees$14.1Mraised▾
Provider of firmware security solutions. It performs in depth introspection of firmware and uses proprietary machine learning and code analysis techniques to find known and unknown threats and vulnerabilities. It is purpose built to find threats deep down at the firmware level.
- Mar 2024Seed$10.5M
- Jun 2022Seed$3.6M
#10
Series B · Pasadena, California · founded 2006 · 5 employees$22.9Mraised▾
Provider of Earth observation data and related analysis for various sectors. The company delivers insights concerning the atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere to government, commercial, and research entities. It focuses on generating information to address global challenges. The organization utilizes remote sensing to monitor environmental conditions.
- Aug 2021Series B$72K
- Feb 2021Series B$15.7M
- Dec 2018Series A$2M
- Feb 2015Series A$4.5M
#11
Series A · Pasadena, California · founded 2014 · 12 employees$23.8Mraised▾
Oben (formerly Nookster) creates a 3D virtual avatar of a user with a selfie and short voice recording using AI. The interface built finds application in immersive VR experiences, AR and IoT as it enables connected devices. Enables users to create their own personal avatar twin and allows VR reality gamers to create virtual copies of celebrities that can interact with fans. Incubated at HTC's Vive X. Has investment from IdeaLab and private angel investors.
- Jan 2018Series A$10M
- Jun 2017Series A$5M
- Mar 2017Series A$1000K
- Nov 2016Series A$7.8M
#12
Acquired · Pasadena, California · founded 2007 · 38 employees$19Mraised▾
Queue management solutions transforming customer service and operational efficiency. They provide a platform designed to streamline service delivery and enhance customer engagement. The company offers solutions for queue/line management, appointment scheduling, call-back queuing, and service intelligence, catering to various industries including government, healthcare, and higher education. Their platform aims to eliminate stressful lobbies, delight customers with flexible options, and provide data insights for modern service. They focus on improving customer experiences, simplifying employee workflows, and delivering actionable service insights. The company offers a customer experience platform with features like real-time notifications, AI-powered arrival time guidance, and unified engagement across all visit types. They provide tools to monitor throughput, identify bottlenecks, and improve customer satisfaction. This is a B2B SaaS software solution.
- Nov 2018Series B$10M
- Nov 2017Series A$5.5M
- Mar 2016Series A$3.5M
Funding & investor landscape
Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund2 roundsNotable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of High Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Semiconductors is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Semiconductors — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 8,739 United States-affiliated papers.
- Georgia Institute of Technology489
- IMEC343
- Intel325
- Purdue University West Lafayette218
- Industrial Technology Research Institute177
- Photonics56→121
- Photonic integrated circuit49→81
- Artificial neural network3→29
- Detector25→48
- Scalability53→73
- Photonics45→59
- Artificial neural network2→14
- Rapid single flux quantum2→12
- Detector20→29
- Image sensor2→11
- Photonics10→28
- Hardware security module6→13
- Thermal10→16
- Automotive industry2→8
- Photonic integrated circuit9→14
Where semiconductors is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing semiconductors patents in the United States
United States semiconductors patent filing is cooling — 112,775 filings from 8,000 assignees (2016–2025), led by IBM, Applied Materials, Intel; annual filings 11572→7675.
- IBM19691
- Applied Materials13119
- Intel11689
- Micron Technology10011
- Texas Instruments4804
- LAM RES4667
- Sandisk Technologies3051
- Qualcomm2897
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.