Bright Machines Announces Leadership Transition as Company Enters Next Phase of Growth
Lior Susan Appointed Interim CEO, as Amar Hanspal Steps Down
SAN FRANCISCO–Bright Machines, an innovator in intelligent, software-defined manufacturing, announced today that Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Amar Hanspal is stepping down from his role. Lior Susan, Co-Founder and Board Member of Bright Machines, and Founding/Managing Partner at Eclipse Ventures, has been appointed as interim CEO.
Hanspal joined the Bright Machines founding team in May 2018 and was an integral part of shaping the company’s growth strategy and product portfolio. His extensive senior leadership experience and deep background in enterprise software and discrete manufacturing enabled Bright Machines to grow to over $30M in revenues in the first 2 years.
“As a co-founder of Bright Machines, I am incredibly proud of the tremendous progress the company has made since we began this journey to transform manufacturing. We have deployed more than 75 Bright Machines Microfactories around the world running on our intelligent Brightware software platform; and we have enabled our customers to embrace a more distributed, localized approach to manufacturing while improving production efficiency and lowering costs,” said Amar Hanspal, former CEO, Bright Machines. “We set out to rethink manufacturing, and we succeeded. With our vision now brought to life, it is a fitting time for me to transition the CEO role as the company moves on to its next phase of growth. I want to thank our customers, investors, but most importantly our employees, for the incredible work they have accomplished and for the confidence they continue to put into this truly generational company.”
Prior to launching Eclipse Ventures, Lior Susan was part of the group of industry veterans that incubated the company that was to eventually become Bright Machines. Since then, he’s served as Bright Machines’ lead investor and an active board member. Earlier in his career, Susan experienced, first-hand, how the infrastructure of most essential industries – like manufacturing – has remained rooted in the past, leaving the world vulnerable to debilitating disruptions. He believes that the innovations responsible for fueling the online revolution of the last two decades are now positioned to reinvent the complex, physical industries critical to people’s lives and national economies.
“I would like to thank Amar for shepherding Bright Machines from a nascent startup to a global organization, and for successfully demonstrating market traction with some of the largest enterprise OEM customers around the world. The growing reshoring movement, combined with the labor shortages, geopolitical tensions, and supply chain disruptions that continue to plague the manufacturing industry have only strengthened my belief that the opportunity in front of us is enormous,” said Lior Susan, interim CEO, Bright Machines. “With our unique, full-stack solution, we can lead the transition from highly labor-intensive, manual assembly towards fully automated factories that are flexible, scalable, and more resilient.”
Following this announcement, Bright Machines’ Board of Directors is commencing a search for a new CEO, with Hanspal serving in an advisory capacity to the Company during the transition period.
Separately, due to unfavorable timing and current market conditions, SCVX Corp. (NYSE: SCVX), and Bright Machines are jointly announcing today that both companies have mutually agreed to terminate their business combination agreement that was previously announced in May.
Industrial automation is estimated to be a $250 billion market over the next 3 years and is ripe for broad-scale transformation. Bright Machines remains squarely positioned at the sweet spot of this industry shift, with differentiated technology, proven customer traction, and a highly experienced leadership team. In line with that opportunity, the Company expects to receive a new infusion of capital through Eclipse Ventures and other private investors.
Bright Machines remains committed to its customers and laser focused on its mission to rethink manufacturing and transform the way products are made.
