Investing in Cambridge Terahertz

Security should make us feel safe, not watched, delayed, or disrupted. Yet today’s systems for threat detection remain stuck in a pre-digital era. They are clunky, invasive, and limited to high-cost infrastructure like airport checkpoints. As technology here has languished, violence in public spaces has remained a growing concern. The number of mass shootings in the US doubled from 2015 to 2023, and 36% of Americans admit to staying away from public spaces because of fears of violence. We need better protection for people in our public spaces. 

Cambridge Terahertz has harnessed a technological breakthrough that provides improved screening for concealed threats. By combining terahertz imaging with custom silicon and real-time AI, the company has developed a high-throughput, non-intrusive threat detection system. It’s the first time airport-grade safety has been miniaturized, cost-optimized, and designed to operate seamlessly in everyday environments. 

The scale of the opportunity is immense and extends beyond the important mission of saving lives. Terahertz is a growing opportunity and is spanning applications in defense, loss prevention, non-destructive testing, medical imaging, and eventually 6G communications. Yet the technical moat is even more compelling. Cambridge Terahertz has developed the world’s largest terahertz phased array antenna, and has done it using scalable CMOS processes. This engineering feat compresses what was once fridge-sized lab equipment into an enterprise-grade device smaller than a toaster, with tens of thousands of antennae operating in real time.

Combining this hardware innovation with proprietary AI unlocks tangible, real-world use cases. Think 3D lidar-like imaging that can safely “see” through clothing, packages, and related objects, in a human-safe and privacy-preserving way. The result is proactive, invisible security, designed for environments that were previously unprotected or unmonitored.

We’re proud to lead Cambridge Terahertz’s seed round. Co-founders Nathan Monroe (PhD, MIT) and Anand Dixit (PhD, Stanford) are among the rare few with deep expertise in terahertz and semiconductor technologies. They’ve built a uniquely interdisciplinary team with experience from Microsoft, Amazon, ADI, Bell Labs, BCG, and the U.S. Army. They’re one of the only teams globally with this depth of terahertz capability. One of our portfolio company CTOs put it simply: “Nathan is the best hardware person I know.”

Cambridge Terahertz’s mission was born out of witnessing tragedies like a school shooting and the Boston Marathon attack. From their first prototypes in a garage near MIT to recent government contracts with the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation, the journey has been fast, focused, and full of promise.

We are thrilled to lead Cambridge Terahertz’s seed round, alongside partners like Amazon, Tishman Speyer, and others.

If their mission compels you, the team is actively hiring to bring terahertz imaging to the masses.