Best Sensors Companies in San Francisco, United States
The 44 best Sensors companies in San Francisco, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Ouster.
Our analysis of 50 Sensors companies
$7.1b in tracked funding; 75% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Sensors companies in San Francisco
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ouster Manufacturer of lidar sensors, perception software, and solutions for autonomy | $140M | 71 mo ago | 217 | Angus Pacala Co-Founder & CEO | DrupalPHPAmazon Web Services+25 | 335 patents High‑resolution 3D lidar sensing with electronically scanned emitter arrays and advanced signal processing | — |
| 2 | Cepton Developer of perception solutions for safe and autonomous transportation applications | $100M | 46 mo ago | 103 103 → 69 (-33%) | Jun Pei Co-Founder & CEO | WebflowGSAPSwiper+23 | 107 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 3 | Sense Photonics Developer of solid-state LiDAR-based sensors | $66M | 80 mo ago | 85 | Shauna McIntyre CEO | — | 213 patents Advanced LiDAR and photon‑counting sensor technologies for high‑resolution ranging | — |
| 4 | Aclima Provider of connected sensor networks for environment awareness 53Moat top 21%Innovation top 22%Patents top 22%Funding top 30% All 10 signals ▾Moattop 21% Innovationtop 22% Patentstop 22% Fundingtop 30% Talenttop 39% Marketbottom 43% Globalbottom 43% Techbottom 38% Growthbottom 30% Newsbottom 18% Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 8/10 · IP moat: 80 patents Innovation: 80 patents (top 23% of patent-holders) · 44 filings since 2022 vs 22 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $64M | 23 mo ago | 51 | Davida Herzl Co-Founder & CEO | — | 80 patents Real-time hyper-local atmospheric pollutant sensing, methane detection, and multi‑sensor data analytics | — |
| 5 | Sofar Ocean Provider of marine weather forecasts and ocean condition monitoring solutions 64AI top 15%Tech top 24%Funding top 31%Moat top 31% All 11 signals ▾AItop 15% Techtop 24% Fundingtop 31% Moattop 31% Growthtop 35% Talenttop 38% Producttop 46% Marketbottom 45% Patentsbottom 38% Globalbottom 37% Innovationbottom 34% AI: Holds AI/ML patents (G06N-family CPC) Tech: 50 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon S3 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 64/100 | $48M | 16 mo ago | 91 | Tim Janssen Co-Founder & CEO | SentryApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+31 | 10 patents Marine meteorological forecasting and real-time metocean sensor integration systems | 1 partnership |
| 6 | Safehub Developer of sensor solution for infrastructural risk and damage assessment | $19M | 65 mo ago | 18 | — | — | 3 patents Structural dynamics monitoring and indoor activity sensing for smart building health. | 1 launch · 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 7 | NeuroSky Biosensor technology for insightful health and wellness biometrics in mobile devices | $18M | 153 mo ago | 60 | Stanley Yang CEO | Cart FunctionalityShopifyVenmo+16 | 96 patents Wearable EEG/EMG biosensors for mental-state and health monitoring applications. | — |
| 8 | Nima IoT testing presence of gluten in their meal | $13M | 123 mo ago | 1 | — | — | 25 patents Biosensor platforms for rapid detection of chemical and biological contaminants | — |
| 9 | Senova Systems Sensors to measure pH level | $12M | 127 mo ago | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Mirion Provider of radiation detection, measurement, analysis and monitoring products and services | $4M | 35 mo ago | 2,872 | Thomas Logan Founder & CEO | Apple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365Ruby+26 | 28 patents Radiation detection and dosimetry instrumentation for monitoring ionizing radiation levels. | 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 11 | PlantSense Sensors to measure environment around plants | $4M | 68 mo ago | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 12 | Omnitron Sensors Manufacturer of sensors for the automotive industry 19Innovation top 40%Patents top 40%Funding top 45%Moat bottom 49% All 6 signals ▾Innovationtop 40% Patentstop 40% Fundingtop 45% Moatbottom 49% Globalbottom 37% Marketbottom 18% Innovation: 9 patents (top 70% of patent-holders) · 9 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 Patents: 9 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 9 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 19/100 | $2M | 18 mo ago | 4 | — | — | 9 patents MEMS optical scanning mirrors and precision fiber‑collimation systems for LiDAR/imaging | — |
| 13 | Mirada Technologies Long-range LiDAR solutions for autonomous vehicles | $966K | 88 mo ago | 3 | Andrew Miner Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 14 | CODAR High-frequency radar systems for ocean surface current and wave monitoring 22Growth top 35%Funding bottom 41%Tech bottom 36%Global bottom 29% All 5 signals ▾Growthtop 35% Fundingbottom 41% Techbottom 36% Globalbottom 29% Marketbottom 21% Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo Funding: Raised $701k across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 22/100 | $701K | 12 mo ago | 20 20 → 27 (+35%) | — | WordPressMySQLPHP+29 | — | 1 partnership |
| 15 | Birdi Air quality monitoring and alerts. | $700K | 145 mo ago | — | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | ELLENEX LPWAN SOLUTIONS Manufacturer of industrial remote monitoring and IIoT sensor solutions | $686K | 35 mo ago | — | Amin Shad Founder & CEO | Wix eCommerceWixSentry+17 | — | 3 launchs |
| 17 | Thalman Health Manufacturer of body temperature measuring devices | $550K | 134 mo ago | — | James Foody Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 18 | Entanglement Technologies Innovating chemical detection with advanced AROMA technology for environmental monitoring | $330K | 170 mo ago | — | Anthony Miller CEO | — | 47 patents Quantum-accelerated network security, AI model optimization, and logistics optimization solutions | — |
| 19 | Algorithmic Intuition Algorithms and software for embedded sessors | $300K | 86 mo ago | 19 | Kevin Shaw CTO / CoFounder | — | 3 patents Software for monitoring and reporting daily work and living activities for health and productivity. | — |
| 20 | MbientLab Hardware and software solutions for wearable devices | $225K | 121 mo ago | 5 | — | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+28 | 2 patents Wearable sensors for measuring and recording climbers' performance metrics. | — |
| 21 | Fullmoon Sensors Solutions for detecting volatile molecules in the atmosphere | $225K | 85 mo ago | 3 | Ehsan Sadeghipour Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 22 | Enflux Provider of motion capture clothing for instructors | $120K | 126 mo ago | 5 | — | — | 2 patents Wearable sensor-based training feedback systems for sports performance improvement. | — |
| 23 | Acuity Agriculture Precision agriculture solutions for optimized irrigation, soil monitoring, and climate tracking | $100K | 125 mo ago | 13 | Joe Zhang Co-Founder | — | — | — |
Top 12 Sensors companies in San Francisco
#1
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2012 · 91 employees$47.6Mraised▾
Provider of marine weather forecasts and ocean condition monitoring solutions. The company offers platforms for voyage optimization, marine sensing, and real-time ocean data. These platforms support maritime shipping, marine research, and sustainable commercial solutions. The company’s offerings include voyage simulation, optimization, and reporting, as well as tools for monitoring sound, water quality, water level, temperature, and currents.
- Apr 2025Grant (prize money)$448.9K
- Apr 2025Grant (prize money)$718.8K
- Nov 2024Series B$22.2M
- Sep 2023Series B$5M
#2
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2010 · 51 employees$64Mraised▾
Operator of a purpose-driven technology company intended to catalyze bold climate action that protects public health reduces emissions, and delivers clean air for all. The company diagnoses the health of the air and tracks climate-changing pollution and is powered by its network of roving and stationary sensors, which measures air pollution and greenhouse gases at unprecedented scales and with block-level, hyperlocal resolution, and their professional analytics software, translates billions of scientific measurements into environmental intelligence for governments, companies, and communities, enabling governments, businesses, and communities to harness innovative environmental intelligence to raise awareness, manage climate-related risk and make smarter decisions in service of human and planetary health.
#3
Funding Raised · San Francisco, California · founded 1986 · 20 employees$701.2Kraised▾
High-frequency radar systems for ocean surface current and wave monitoring. Its SeaSonde HF radar system provides continuous, wide-area ocean observations. They also offer technical support for their products.
- Jul 2025Grant (prize money)$701.2K
#4
Series A · San Francisco, California · founded 2019 · 4 employees$2.4Mraised▾
Manufacturer of sensors for the automotive industry. It utilizes biomimicry to develop silicon photonic sensors. It integrates with LiDAR and robotic systems. It has applications in safety-critical systems, self-driving cars, and drones.
- Jan 2025Series A$13M
- Jul 2021Seed$2.4M
- Feb 2020Seed$150K
#5
Acquired · San Francisco, California · founded 2012 · 103 employees$100Mraised▾
Developer of perception solutions for safe and autonomous transportation applications. The company provides hardware and software products designed for integration into various systems. These products support long-range and near-range perception capabilities. The company also offers resources such as news, announcements, blogs, and videos.
- Oct 2022Post IPO$100M
- Feb 2020Series C$50M
- Seed—
#6
Public · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 217 employees$140Mraised▾
Manufacturer of lidar sensors, perception software, and solutions for autonomy. The company engineers lidar sensors designed for integration into existing and future applications. It offers hardware including sensors with varying fields of view and range capabilities. The company provides perception software tools and solutions. These are designed for industries such as industrial, security, traffic management, automotive, robotics, drones, and crowd analytics.
- Sep 2020Series B$42M
- Mar 2019Series B$60M
- Mar 2019Conventional Debt—
- 2018Series A—
#7
Public · San Francisco, California · founded 2006 · 2872 employees$4.2Mraised▾
Provider of radiation detection, measurement, analysis and monitoring products and services. Offers solutions to the nuclear power, medical, military, and homeland security markets. The company has divisions such as health physics, imaging systems, radiation monitoring systems and more.
- Sep 2023Grant (prize money)$123.2K
- Dec 2021Grant (prize money)$102.2K
- Dec 2021Grant (prize money)$31.3K
- Dec 2021Grant (prize money)$49.7K
#8
Acqui-Hired · San Francisco, California · founded 2016 · 85 employees$66.4Mraised▾
Developer of solid-state LiDAR sensors. It utilizes proprietary laser arrays, modular architecture, interference mitigation, and 3D depth-sensing technologies to build its Flash LiDARs. It illuminates scenes, and capture depths and intensity data per pixel simultaneously for the entire field-of-view. It caters to automotive and industrial applications.
- Dec 2019Series A$61.6K
- Jul 2019Grant (prize money)$2.4M
- Jun 2019Series A$26M
- May 2019Series A$26M
#9
Series A · San Francisco, California · founded 2018 · 18 employees$19.1Mraised▾
Developer of sensor solution for infrastructural risk and damage assessment. The solution consists of sensors for data capture and user dashboards. The solution leverages digital signal processing techniques, risk modeling, and soil dynamic properties for enhancing risk modeling. It also measures building response in real-time, estimates losses, and predicts damage.
- Mar 2021Series A$9.1M
- Jul 2020Seed$5M
- Dec 2019Seed$5M
#10
Unfunded · San Francisco, California · founded 2012$686Kraised▾
Manufacturer of industrial remote monitoring and IIoT sensor solutions. The company provides pre-configured industrial solutions for managing remote distributed assets. It offers sensors, interfaces, and platforms for various applications. The company focuses on industries such as water, agriculture, logistics, and construction.
#11
Acqui-Hired · San Francisco, California · founded 2007 · 8 employees$12.4Mraised▾
Senova System has used its patented chemistry processes to develop calibration free pH sensor platform that is wet-dry reversible and utilizes non-glass electrodes approach, different from conventional pH meters. Senova also offers a PDK which allow industries to utilize their technology without much manipulation. The sensor has applications in various industries such as food & beverages, life sciences, consumer products, environmental monitoring, water resources and energy sector, etc.
- Jan 2016Series B$600K
- Nov 2014Series B$1.5M
- Jan 2012Series B$6.7M
- Jun 2010Series A$480K
#12
Deadpooled · San Francisco, California · founded 2013 · 1 employees$13.3Mraised▾
Nima, re-branded from 6SensorLabs, is a designer & developer of IoT for diagnosing the presence of certain food constituents. Has designed a connected device that can test the presence of gluten in the food. The food sample is put in a small capsule that Nima provides, which then put into the device. The sensor sends the data to the user's smartphone via Bluetooth and allows the user to record and store the results of each meal. The starter kit costs $199. Planning to release food sensors for peanut and milk products by 2017.Also creating a crowd-sourced heat map of health food serving restaurants around the world. Incubated at Lemnos Labs.
- May 2016Series A$9.3M
- Jan 2016Grant (prize money)$50K
- Sep 2014Seed$4M
- Oct 2013Conventional Debt$200K
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Sensors coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on MEMS & Sensors is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around MEMS & Sensors — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 3,246 United States-affiliated papers.
- Georgia Institute of Technology118
- Purdue University West Lafayette80
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology70
- Northeastern University69
- Stanford University66
- Wearable computer21→85
- Wearable technology6→25
- Nanotechnology13→30
- Sensitivity (control systems)31→44
- Piezoresistive effect26→36
- Wearable computer13→34
- Blood pressure3→15
- Turbine1→13
- Wearable technology2→10
- Aerodynamics6→14
- Transducer5→9
- Piezoresistive effect3→4
Where mems sensors 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 mems sensors patents in the United States
United States mems sensors patent filing is cooling — 7,971 filings from 4,656 assignees (2016–2025), led by Honeywell INT, Qualcomm, Invensense; annual filings 1101→620.
- Honeywell INT1126
- Qualcomm829
- Invensense631
- IBM409
- Analog Devices408
- Freescale Semiconductor357
- Texas Instruments336
- Intel328
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.