Bengaluru-based Agrani Labs is reportedly in advanced talks to raise Rs 4.75 billion to accelerate AI chip development, R&D, and engineering.
Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup Agrani Labs is in advanced discussions to raise around $50 million (approximately Rs 4.75 billion) in a fresh funding round, as it looks to expand its research, engineering, and chip development capabilities.
According to people familiar with the development, existing investor Peak XV Partners is expected to contribute around $15 million, while the remaining capital could come from new investors, including 360 One. The round is expected to value Agrani Labs at around $160 million.
Founded in 2024 by former Intel and AMD executives Dheemanth Nagaraj, Ashok Jagannathan, Srikanth Nimmagadda, and Rajesh Vivekanandham, Agrani Labs is developing artificial intelligence (AI) inference chips aimed at competing in the rapidly growing market for specialised AI computing hardware.
A key focus for the company is developing chips that are compatible with Nvidia’s compute unified device architecture (CUDA) software ecosystem. CUDA compatibility could help Agrani Labs address one of the major challenges faced by emerging AI chip companies—ensuring that developers can deploy existing software and workloads without having to rebuild their applications for a new architecture.
The proposed funding is expected to be directed towards research and development (R&D), engineering, and product development as the startup works towards advancing its chip technology and scaling operations.
Agrani Labs will compete with international AI semiconductor companies such as US-based SambaNova Systems and Groq, which are developing specialised hardware for AI workloads.
India’s semiconductor startup push
The funding comes amid growing government and private-sector efforts to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem spanning chip design, fabrication, advanced packaging, equipment, materials, and R&D.
India’s recently notified Semicon 2.0 scheme carries an outlay of Rs 1.27 trillion and aims to catalyse around Rs 4 trillion in investment across the semiconductor value chain.
For startups such as Agrani Labs, the combination of rising AI compute demand, increasing investor interest, and government-backed semiconductor initiatives could provide greater room to develop and scale indigenous chip technologies.
