Physical AI startup SiMa.ai has raised $150 million in a Series C funding round, taking its total capital raised to $500 million and valuing the California-based company at $1.45 billion.
Latest funding round was co-led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Amplify, with participation from Alter Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Maverick Capital, +ND Capital, Point72 and StepStone Group. AllianceBernstein, Baron Capital, J.P. Morgan and the State of Michigan joined the round as new investors.
SiMa.ai plans to use the fresh capital to expand Palette Neat, its software environment for physical AI applications, and accelerate development of its next-generation hardware platform.
SiMa.ai Expands Physical AI
The company is building technology for AI systems that operate on physical devices rather than only in cloud or data-centre environments. Its platform combines specialised silicon with software designed to run demanding AI workloads on edge devices.
The approach is aimed at applications where AI needs to process information close to where it is generated. These include drones, robots and vehicles, where factors such as computing performance, power use and response time can affect how systems operate.
SiMa.ai is entering a market that has traditionally relied heavily on GPUs for AI computing. Its software-led approach is intended to make it easier for developers to deploy AI models on purpose-built hardware used in physical systems.
Gen 3 Targets Higher Power
A major portion of the new funding will support development of SiMa.ai third-generation platform. The company is targeting computing performance of up to 1,000 dense tera operations per second, or TOPS, with its Gen 3 physical AI silicon.
TOPS refers to trillions of operations performed by an AI processor each second and is commonly used as a measure of AI computing capability. SiMa.ai plans to introduce its next-generation hardware in the first half of 2028.
The Gen 3 platform is expected to include machine learning intellectual property, chiplets and systems-on-chip. The company is targeting use cases ranging from medium- and high-end drones to humanoid robots, automotive advanced driver assistance systems and AI-enabled vehicle cockpits.
SiMa.ai Edge Devices
Founder and CEO Krishna Rangasayee said the company sees physical AI applications in areas such as humanoid robots, automotive systems and drones. “Physical AI in humanoids, automotive, and drones is the gateway to a $50 trillion market that has remained largely untouched by modern innovation,” he said.
Rangasayee also said the company has already moved its second-generation platform into production. The new funding will allow SiMa.ai to speed up development of the third generation.
“What we plan to do with this capital is really accelerate the development of the Gen 3 platform. In Gen 2, we went up to 50 tera ops in terms of performance. With our Gen 3, we plan to go up to 1,000 tera ops,” Rangasayee said.
Mike Dauber, general partner at Amplify Partners, said SiMa.ai had reduced the complexity involved in running advanced AI models on physical edge devices. He added that the platform could help reduce the time needed to develop autonomous systems.
Physical AI Market Grows
The funding comes as physical AI is gaining attention across robotics, automotive technology, drones and other machines that need to understand and respond to their surroundings. Counterpoint Research estimates cumulative shipments of physical AI devices, including vehicles, robots and drones, could reach 145 million units between 2025 and 2035.
For chip and software developers, the expansion of these applications creates demand for computing systems that can operate outside traditional data centres. Such devices often need to balance AI performance with power consumption, size and real-time processing requirements.
SiMa.ai is positioning its hardware and software platform around these requirements. The company will now use the Series C capital to expand its existing software platform while working towards the planned Gen 3 hardware launch.
About SiMa.ai
SiMa.ai was founded in 2018 by Krishna Rangasayee and is headquartered in San Jose, California. The company develops a software-centric physical AI platform that combines purpose-built silicon with software for deploying machine learning workloads on edge devices.
Its business model centres on providing computing hardware and software tools for organisations building AI-enabled physical systems. Rather than focusing only on general-purpose AI computing, SiMa.ai targets workloads running directly on machines such as robots, drones and vehicles.
With $500 million raised so far, the startup is now entering its next phase of product development. The immediate focus is on scaling Palette Neat and taking its Gen 3 hardware from development towards the planned 2028 launch.
