Founded in 2024 by serial networking entrepreneur Drew Perkins and chip designer Omar Hassen, Eridu is redesigning data-center networking from the silicon up to meet the bandwidth demands of modern AI workloads. The company is building a switch that integrates far more networking functionality directly onto the chip, reducing optical links, lowering latency, and cutting power and cost compared with traditional multi-tiered architectures. Its eventual product line will replace conventional gear from vendors like Arista Networks in AI data centers, positioning Eridu at the heart of the ongoing build-out of GPU clusters that now span millions of processors. Perkins argues that while GPU compute and memory bandwidth are improving roughly 10× per year, incumbent switch technology advances only 2–3× every few years, creating a performance gap Eridu aims to close. The startup has assembled roughly 100 employees and leverages the founders’ deep experience, including Perkins’ past exits such as Lightera, Infinera, and Gainspeed. Although the company has not disclosed revenue metrics or valuation, it has raised substantial capital to fund product development and scale.

Total raised

$200M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Mar 2026