Netrasemi Secures ₹10 Crore to Advance Edge AI for Smart IoT Devices

Kerala-based semiconductor startup Netrasemi has successfully raised ₹10 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures. The funds will be utilized for the fabrication of two machine learning system-on-chips (SoCs), Netra A2000 and Netra R1000, aimed at revolutionizing Edge AI for IoT products.

Innovating with AI-powered SoCs

Founded in 2020 by Jyothis Indirabhai, Sreejith Varma, and Deepa Geetha, Netrasemi focuses on creating cutting-edge SoCs designed to meet the growing demand for efficient computing in smart IoT devices. The company has developed a suite of AI/ML-capable SoCs and reference designs to simplify and economize Edge AI product development across more than 100 use cases.

These innovative chips integrate into motherboards, enabling IoT devices to perform advanced AI-based analytics directly on the device, eliminating the need for cloud-based data processing. This approach makes devices smarter, more responsive, cost-effective, and independent.

Rapid Growth and Market Response

Over the past year, Netrasemi has received strong traction from OEMs in the medical, telecom, and industrial sectors globally. The company reported robust revenue growth of approximately $0.75 million from chip design and porting services. It anticipates a 150% revenue increase in FY25, driven by IP licensing, and exponential growth starting FY27 with the commencement of volume chip production.

Strategic Investment for Edge AI Growth

Commenting on the investment, Anil Joshi, Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures, stated: "There are attractive opportunities in the Edge AI software market, and the AI industry has the potential to transform various sectors. The funding accelerates Netrasemi’s mission to deploy solutions at a larger scale. We believe Netrasemi will continue to sustain its momentum with its most powerful AI chip for edge devices and strengthen its position in this space."

Advanced SoC Families to Drive Transformation

Netrasemi has developed three SoC families: Netra R1000, Netra A2000, and Netra A4000. These high-performance ML-capable chips are built on the company’s proprietary Domain-Specific Architecture (DSA) and patented graph-stream hardware acceleration technology. Optimized for power efficiency and cost, these SoCs address the unique requirements of edge applications in sectors like surveillance, robotics, Industry 4.0, and autonomous vehicles.

Co-founder Jyothis Indirabhai highlighted the significance of this development, stating: "Netrasemi’s family of chips will be the first AI/ML SoCs from India for intelligent edge devices, with a full array of in-house-developed digital IPs. This funding is a crucial step toward fueling our expansion and success."

Netrasemi aims to capitalize on the growing demand for edge AI solutions in applications such as smart sensors, machine vision, and video surveillance, which are experiencing surging demand due to privacy concerns and smart city initiatives.

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