AI-startup AlphaICs raises $8 million in Series B funding

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technology company AlphaICs on Wednesday said that it has secured $8 million in Series B equity funding led by Endiya Partners and Emerald Technology Ventures.

Existing investors including ReBright Partners and 3One4 Capital, along with Aaruha Technology Fund, IREON Ventures, Canal Ventures, JSR Corporation, CBC Co. Ltd. and the Whiteboard Capital, also participated as a part of this round.

The four-year old startup designs and develops high-performance AI chips for Edge Computing. According to the company, it will use the funds to develop the software stack and to build system solutions for its target markets.

“Edge AI applications in consumer markets like high-end smartphones, wearables as well as enterprise markets like robots, cameras, and sensors will be pervasive in the next few years. AlphaICs RAP accelerates inferencing as well as learning tasks on-device, rather than in a remote data center delivering benefits like low latency, cost, data privacy, and security.” said Sateesh Andra, managing director with Endiya Partners.

With this funding, Emerald investment director Michal Natora will join AlphaICs’ board of directors.

“AlphaICs innovative architecture will empower system integrators to create AI solutions, with a short time-to-market; while staying within the systems cost and thermal constraints.” said Pradeep Vajram, Chairman and CEO of AlphaICs.

Vajram added that with this funding the company will also be introducing its new AI-based co-processor in the market for vision-based applications.

“We are also working with strategic partners to bring innovative solutions to the industrial, automotive, and surveillance markets,” added Vajram .

Earlier this month, Endiya Partners announced the final close of its new fund, with a corpus of around ₹500 crores (or $70 million). Through the new fund, Endiya is looking to back close to 18 startups, with initial cheque sizes in the range of $1 to $1.5 million. It also looks to make follow-on investments in its portfolio companies.