Peak XV-led funding backs Indian startup’s “grid-to-GPU” power-delivery technology to cut energy losses in AI infrastructure
Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup C2i Semiconductors has secured $15 million in Series A funding led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Yali Deeptech and TDK Ventures. The fresh capital will accelerate development of advanced power-delivery solutions designed specifically for AI data centers and high-performance computing systems—an area rapidly emerging as a bottleneck in global AI scaling.
Founded in 2024 by semiconductor veterans Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Tadeparthy, and Ram Ananthaswamy, C2i (short for control, conversion, and intelligence) focuses on re-engineering how electrical power flows from the grid to the processor core inside AI infrastructure. The company aims to deliver high-density, ultra-reliable system-level power solutions that reduce energy losses and improve efficiency in large-scale computing environments.
Tackling AI’s Emerging Power Bottleneck
As AI workloads surge, power—not compute—is becoming the limiting factor in data-center expansion. Hyperscale facilities face growing constraints in converting and distributing electricity efficiently to thousands of GPUs. C2i’s plug-and-play architecture seeks to optimise this “grid-to-GPU” path, improving the economics and scalability of AI infrastructure.
Industry forecasts underscore the urgency: global data-center electricity demand is projected to rise sharply through the next decade, intensifying the need for innovations in power management. Investors increasingly view energy efficiency as a critical enabler of AI growth, positioning startups like C2i at the intersection of semiconductor design and data-center engineering.
Funding to Accelerate Productisation and Scale
The Series A round brings C2i’s total funding to about $19 million, following an earlier $4 million seed investment in 2024. The new capital will be used to advance product development, validation with data-center operators, and commercial deployment of next-generation power-delivery platforms tailored for AI and cloud infrastructure.
Peak XV’s investment reflects a broader shift in venture capital toward deep-tech semiconductor startups addressing foundational AI infrastructure challenges. By targeting system-level power conversion—rather than individual chips—C2i aims to unlock efficiency gains across entire computing stacks, potentially lowering operating costs and enabling higher compute density per data center.
Strategic Role in the AI Hardware Stack
C2i’s approach aligns with an industry trend toward holistic optimisation of AI hardware ecosystems, spanning processors, interconnects, cooling, and power delivery. Efficient power conversion can reduce heat generation and free capacity within fixed energy envelopes—critical for hyperscale and enterprise AI deployments.
With global AI adoption accelerating across cloud, enterprise, and edge applications, demand for energy-efficient computing infrastructure is set to soar. By addressing one of the most pressing constraints in AI scaling, C2i Semiconductors is positioning itself as a key enabler of next-generation data-center architecture and the broader AI economy.