After putting its own semiconductor plans on hold, Zoho Corporation has now invested in Kerala-based chip start-up ‘Netrasemi’. The company co-led a ₹107 crore Series A funding round in Netrasemi with Unicorn India Ventures.
The deeptech venture will use fresh capital for accelerating R&D, expand manufacturing capabilities, enhance marketing efforts to capture larger market share, bring four system-on-chip variants requirements of OEMs for surveillance, industrial robots, and smart infrastructure products.
“Supporting the growth of a strong deeptech ecosystem in India is a key focus for Zoho, and our investment in Netrasemi reflects that ongoing effort….our interests with Netrasemi also align on the R&D front especially in areas such as Robotics, AI and Edge processing,” said Shailesh Davey, Co-founder and CEO, Zoho Corporation.
Founded in 2020 by Jyothis Indirabhai, Sreejith Varma and Deepa Geetha, Netrasemi is an Indian Edge AI semiconductor technology company building system-on-chips to enable the new-age need for optimal computing for smart IoT products.
The company is focused on developing system-on-chips (SoCs) that enable optimal computing for smart IoT products, particularly for addressing complex workloads like video processing. Its chips are designed to perform advanced AI-based analytics directly on devices, eliminating the need to send data to servers or the cloud.
Zoho's Stalled Semiconductor Plans
Zoho has reported paused its year-long effort to enter the semiconductor manufacturing space with a plan worth $700 million. The software company faced difficulties in securing a suitable technology partner to guide it through the complex chip manufacturing process.
Zoho had earlier planned to invest $400 million in a semiconductor facility in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to diversify its business. However, the entire chipmaking initiative has been put on hold for now.
This marked another setback for the Indian government's ambitious semiconductor push, after Adani Group's has also halted talks with Israel's Tower Semiconductor for a chip project worth over $10 billion.
Zoho Corporation has been promoting rural development with R&D, by creating opportunities for youth to work in technology sector in villages and tier 2/3 towns, nurturing and developing the local talent. As part of that effort, it recently opened an R&D centre in Kottarakara, Kerala.
