Physical AI custom chip startup SiMa.ai raises $150M at $1.45B valuation
Custom physical artificial intelligence chip startup SiMa.ai Technologies Inc. today announced it has raised $150 million in new funding at a $1.45 billion valuation to scale up its development environment and fund the next generation of its embedded AI compute platform. Physical AI devices are hardware systems including robots, drones and autonomous vehicles that integrate […] The post Physical…
SiMa.ai, a startup specializing in physical artificial intelligence (AI) chip technology, has successfully raised $150 million in funding, pushing its valuation to an impressive $1.45 billion. The company's mission is to develop the "brains" for various intelligent devices, including autonomous vehicles, drones, and robots, by integrating AI with sensors and actuators. This hardware-software solution aims to transform the global market for physical AI devices, which has been largely untapped by modern innovation.
The Series C financing round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Amplify, with participation from Alter Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, StepStone Group, AllianceBernstein, Baron Capital, and J.P. Morgan. SiMa.ai's founder and CEO, Krishna Rangasayee, believes that this funding will enable the company to dominate the market by creating a superior platform and competing with established players like Nvidia, which currently produces more expensive hardware.
The capital will primarily be used to scale Palette Neat, SiMa.ai's exclusive development environment for Physical AI, and to build the next generation of its system-on-chip, Modalix, specifically designed for embedded robotics. The company aims to achieve 1,000 tera operations per second with their new hardware in the first half of 2028, outperforming Nvidia's Jetson AGX Thor series, which can handle up to 2,000 FP4 TOPS.
While Nvidia's CUDA-based architecture is the market leader in physical AI software, SiMa.ai aims to provide a more power-efficient alternative. Their custom-built silicon and software support are designed to be deployed quickly, in days or hours, making their solution more attractive for mid- to high-end drones, humanoid robotics, automotive advanced driver assistance systems, and AI-powered cockpits.
Notable current customers and partners include ARK Electronics LLC, AverMedia Technologies Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Emerson Electric Co., Micron Technology Co., and Synopsys Inc.
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Also reported by 2 other outlets
- Physical AI chip developer SiMa.ai hits $1.45B valuation techcrunch.com
- Physical AI firm SiMa.ai raises $150 mn in Series C, valued at $1.45 bn business-standard.com
