SiMa.ai Secures $70M Funding Led by Maverick Capital to Accelerate Edge AI Development

• ByStartupStory     |    April 5, 2024

SiMa.ai, a pioneering machine learning (ML) company, has announced the successful closure of a $70 million funding round led by Maverick Capital. The investment also saw participation from Point72, Jericho, and existing investors such as Amplify Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Fidelity Management, and Lip-Bu Tan. This latest round brings SiMa.ai’s total funding to $270 million.

SiMa.ai, based in California, aims to address the burgeoning demand for edge AI/ML solutions with its cutting-edge ML System-on-Chip (MLSoC) technology. The company plans to expedite the rollout of its next-generation MLSoC with the recent funding infusion. Harald Kroeger, President of Automotive Business at SiMa.ai, emphasized that the funds will be utilized to expand the sales network, enhance bandwidth, and venture into the automotive industry.

According to Kroeger, the upcoming chip will offer a wide spectrum of performance capabilities, ranging from small to high-end, with the ability to scale seamlessly within a family spanning from 25 to 200 Trillions or Tera Operations per Second (TOPS). SiMa.ai is set to launch its second-generation chip in the first quarter of 2025, introducing a platform designed to cater to various edge AI needs, from computer vision to multi-modal generative AI (GenAI).

Krishna Rangasayee, Founder and CEO of SiMa.ai, commented on the transformative potential of AI, stating, “AI—particularly the rapid rise of generative AI—is fundamentally reshaping the way that humans and machines work together.” Rangasayee highlighted the significance of providing sensory capabilities such as sight, sound, and speech to edge devices, envisioning a wide array of applications across industries.

SiMa.ai’s focus on edge devices aligns with a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, and beyond. Andrew Homan, Senior Managing Director at Maverick Capital, emphasized SiMa.ai’s pivotal role in driving the adoption of AI at the edge, positioning the company as a key player in this transformative landscape.

According to industry insights from Gartner, semiconductors tailored for AI tasks represent a significant revenue opportunity, projected to reach $53.4 billion in 2023. SiMa.ai, founded in 2018, boasts a hardware-to-software stack that adapts to various frameworks, networks, models, sensors, and modalities within a single platform.

SiMa.ai claims that ML applications running on its MLSoC have witnessed a remarkable tenfold increase in performance and energy efficiency, enhancing the quality of ML use cases. Harald Kroeger also highlighted the growing interest in SiMa.ai’s solutions in India, noting the country’s proactive approach towards adopting ML/AI technologies across industries.

With engineers split between Bengaluru and Silicon Valley, SiMa.ai views India not only as a development hub but also as a significant market. The company is ramping up operations in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with a focus on industry automation, logistics, and automotive sectors.

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