Semiconductor startup optoML has raised $1.8 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Bluehill VC and A99.
The fresh capital will be used to scale hiring and advance development of its next-generation chips following the successful completion of its 12 nm tapeout.
Founded in 2024 by Saravana Maruthamuthu, optoML is a fabless semiconductor company building energy-efficient AI System-on-Chip (SoC) platforms using analog-in-memory compute architectures combined with optical interconnects. While the company is headquartered in Singapore, its primary R&D and development operations are based in Bengaluru.
The startup claims its patented analog-in-memory compute design can deliver up to 50x higher energy efficiency compared to conventional digital AI accelerators, targeting use cases across edge devices, enterprise deployments, and data centres.
Its architecture integrates high-bandwidth optical I/O directly on-chip to reduce latency and power consumption during data movement.
optoML recently completed a 12 nm tapeout with TSMC and has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kaynes Semiconductor to support assembly and testing once wafers are received. The company operates on FinFET nodes and focuses on building scalable AI processors for next-generation workloads.
