Kerala-based fabless chip startup NetraSemi has declared its A2000 Edge AI SoC production-ready following successful trials with three OEM customers in CCTV, IoT gateway, and robotics segments. The chip was designed for low-power computer vision inference at the edge and runs on a Rs 107 crore Series A funding round closed earlier in 2026. NetraSemi is targeting volume orders before the end of calendar 2026.
Semicon Hunt -> product-launch -> NetraSemi
2026-09-01
NetraSemi, a fabless semiconductor startup headquartered in Kerala and backed by the Deep Tech Innovation Fund among other investors, has announced that its A2000 Edge AI System-on-Chip has been declared production-ready following a successful trial period with three original equipment manufacturer customers. The A2000 targets computer vision inference workloads at the network edge, including smart surveillance cameras, industrial IoT gateways, and autonomous mobile robots. The production-ready declaration follows a Rs 107 crore Series A funding round that NetraSemi closed in early 2026, which provided the capital needed to complete silicon bring-up, customer qualification, and supply chain contracting through a Taiwan-based foundry partner.
The A2000 is built around a custom neural processing unit optimised for convolutional neural network inference at very low power budgets, targeting devices that operate on battery or limited industrial power supplies. Alongside the NPU, the chip integrates an image signal processor capable of handling multiple camera streams simultaneously, a connectivity subsystem supporting Ethernet, USB, and wireless interfaces, and an embedded processor for peripheral management. In surveillance applications, the chip can run face detection, object classification, and behavioural anomaly algorithms locally without transmitting video streams to a cloud server, reducing bandwidth costs and addressing privacy regulations. For robotics, the chip handles sensor fusion and real-time path planning tasks at a power level compatible with mobile robot form factors.
The three OEM trials covered a smart camera product from a Bengaluru-based security systems integrator, an industrial IoT gateway from a Pune-based automation company, and an autonomous guided vehicle from a logistics technology firm in Chennai. Across all three trials, the A2000 met or exceeded performance specifications while delivering power consumption in line with projections. Customer feedback highlighted the chip's software SDK as a key differentiator, with engineers noting that integrating their existing model zoo onto the A2000 required significantly less effort than comparable imported edge AI chips. NetraSemi has used this feedback to refine its SDK documentation and plans to release version 2.0 of the development toolkit alongside the commercial launch.
The Rs 107 crore Series A was led by a syndicate of domestic venture capital and deep tech funds, with participation from a Kerala government-linked technology development body. NetraSemi was founded with core team members drawn from semiconductor companies including Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Broadcom India, giving it credibility with enterprise customers evaluating chip vendor reliability. The company employs over 60 engineers and is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram with additional design resources in Bengaluru. With production-ready status confirmed, NetraSemi is in discussions with distributors and system integrators for volume orders targeting delivery in Q4 2026, which would make it one of the first Indian fabless startups to reach meaningful commercial scale with an indigenously designed edge AI chip.
The form has been successfully submitted.
We will review your software soon!
See you soon.
Please enter your details and we will