Netrasemi, a Kerala-based semiconductor startup, has raised ₹107 crore ($12.5 million) in a Series A funding round led by Zoho Corporation and Unicorn India Ventures. The funds will support accelerated research and development, expanded manufacturing capabilities, enhanced marketing efforts to increase domestic and global market share, and the production of four system-on-chip (SoC) variants with advanced AI and video analytics features. These chips aim to meet the compute platform needs of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in surveillance, industrial robotics, and smart infrastructure sectors.
Founded in 2020 by Jyothis Indirabhai, Sreejith Varma, and Deepa Geetha, Netrasemi develops SoCs for smart IoT products, focusing on complex workloads like video processing. The company’s chips enable on-device AI-based analytics, powered by an energy-efficient deep-neural AI acceleration core (NPU) and in-house silicon intellectual properties, eliminating the need for cloud or server data processing. Netrasemi has completed development of two Edge AI chips, currently in the tapeout stage targeting TSMC’s 12nm technology node, and has initiated development of a CCTV AI camera chip for the Indian market.
Over the past year, Netrasemi has secured partner agreements for evaluation boards and platform development, signed multiple MOUs with global partners for sample releases and R&D, and garnered interest from OEMs for platform development using its SoCs. The company plans to double its workforce from 83 to 166 chip engineering professionals to target applications in surveillance, industrial robotics, smart home devices, smart city infrastructure, and retail. Netrasemi is also focusing on next-generation chips, with R&D and prototyping underway for launches expected in early 2026.
Shailesh Davey, Co-founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation, stated that the investment aligns with Zoho’s focus on fostering India’s deep-tech ecosystem, particularly in robotics, AI, and edge processing. Zoho will collaborate with Netrasemi at its new R&D center in Kottarakara, Kerala, to support rural development and local talent. Anil Joshi, Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures, noted the growing demand for energy-efficient semiconductor solutions in the global edge AI market, with Netrasemi positioned to address this need.
Jyothis Indirabhai, Co-founder and CEO of Netrasemi, emphasized the necessity of domain-specific optimization for AI-based automation and smart devices. The company’s Domain Specific Architecture (DSA) and intellectual property silicon cores enable power-efficient and cost-effective on-device computing. Netrasemi’s partnership with Zoho will leverage market knowledge to enter new industry segments, while Unicorn India Ventures’ reinvestment reflects confidence in the company’s growth. Support from institutions like the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), TrEST Research Park, IIM-K, and KSUM has also aided Netrasemi’s progress.
In the next 12-18 months, Netrasemi aims to complete full mask production of three SoC families and begin R&D for next-generation ultra-high-performance SoCs for edge servers and smart NVR compute requirements. The company previously raised ₹10 crore in a pre-Series A round from Unicorn India Ventures and ₹8.3 crore in seed rounds.
