Exclusive: Flux, backed by 8VC, raises $37 million to vibe code electronics

In 2018, Matthias Wagner was leading a 100-person Burning Man camp called Hotel California. 

8VC partner Francisco Gimenez remembers it well—not just because it was the first time he met Wagner, but because of what Wagner had built.

“Matthias was the leader of the camp,” said Gimenez. “He led the creation of a three-story hangout structure they’d designed out of these interlocking Lincoln logs. It was open-sourced—you could see the plans on GitHub. Matthias wasn’t starting a company, he was still at Facebook. But you could tell the guy could run something incredible.”

It would be one year before they crossed paths again, this time at a mutual friend’s wedding. Wagner wasn’t pitching anything—but he’d been watching the rise of design software firm Figma, and he couldn’t believe no one had built something like it for the massive electronics market. Wagner has built all kinds of electronics, from sound systems to modular off-grid solar systems. 

“Around 2020, Figma had its first success, and you suddenly saw you could build a CAD tool in the browser,” says Wagner, who’s jocular and German. “I realized: The software to make electronics hasn’t improved in my lifetime. And clearly, today, we have better ideas about building software that’s easier to use, more collaborative, more automated. Clearly, we can use machine learning, too. The supply chain now also exists in my Oakland backyard, I can make whatever I want. I don’t need to be Lockheed........

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