Quadric raises $30M to scale on-device AI chip IP

The startup announced last week a $30 million Series C funding round led by Accelerate Fund, which is managed by Beenext Capital Management. The investment brings the company’s total funding to $72 million. According to CEO Veerbhan Kheterpal, the round values the company at a post-money valuation of between $270 million and $300 million, an increase from around $100 million during its 2022 Series B round. Moglix CEO Rahul Garg also joined as a strategic investor.

The funding follows a period of significant financial growth for the company, which licenses its chip-IP—intellectual property for semiconductor design. Its financial trajectory shows:

• 2024 licensing revenue: around $4 million
• 2025 licensing revenue: $15 million to $20 million
• 2026 revenue target: up to $35 million

This growth is driven by a broader industry shift toward on-device inference, which refers to running AI models locally on hardware rather than relying on centralized cloud infrastructure. Quadric provides programmable processor IP and software that allows customers to run AI models on-device. This approach serves as an alternative to competitors like Qualcomm, Synopsys, and Cadence. “We were looking to build a similar CUDA-like or programmable infrastructure for on-device AI,” Kheterpal said, referencing Nvidia’s strong platform for data-center AI.

The company’s customers include Kyocera and Japan’s auto supplier Denso, which builds chips for Toyota vehicles. The first products utilizing Quadric’s technology are expected to ship this year, starting with laptops. Kheterpal noted that the spread of transformer-based models in 2023 pushed inference into more devices, as hardware design cycles struggle to keep pace with rapidly shifting model architectures.

Beyond commercial markets, Quadric is exploring sovereign AI strategies—building domestic AI capabilities to reduce reliance on foreign infrastructure—in India and Malaysia. This push comes as governments and companies look to distributed AI setups to manage the rising costs of centralized cloud infrastructure. The shift toward localized setups was highlighted by the World Economic Forum and a November report from EY, which noted that the sovereign AI approach has gained traction among policymakers. To support these efforts, Quadric employs nearly 70 people worldwide, including about 40 in the U.S. and around 10 in India.

Why it matters

Quadric is scaling its on-device AI chip-IP business, moving beyond automotive into laptops and industrial devices, while capitalizing on the demand for ‘sovereign AI’ to reduce reliance on centralized cloud infrastructure.