Participated · Series C · Apr 2026

nEye.ai builds reconfigurable optical interconnects centered on a proprietary Optical Circuit Switch (OCS) on-a-chip that fuses silicon photonics with MEMS and CMOS. The architecture targets ultra-low latency, very high bandwidth, and improved power efficiency for hyperscale AI data centers and composable infrastructure. The company emphasizes a foundry-compatible, wafer-scale process intended to reduce footprint and power relative to traditional mechanical switching assemblies. nEye positions its technology for pooling CPU, GPU, and memory resources across AI gigawatt factories and large-scale compute environments. The latest financing is intended to accelerate development and high-volume manufacturing and to meet rigorous performance standards demanded by customers. nEye is headquartered in Silicon Valley and has received venture funding from investors including Sutter Hill Ventures, CapitalG, M12, Socratic Partners, and Micron Technology.

Led · Series A · Mar 2026

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.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2026

Ethernovia is a San Jose–based semiconductor company creating a new class of automotive and edge packet processors designed to aggregate, route and manage high-bandwidth sensor, vision and AI data with deterministic latency and leading power efficiency. Its unified, Ethernet-centric architecture enables zonal and centralized systems that simplify vehicle and robot design while supporting advanced driver assistance, autonomous driving and other real-time, safety-critical applications. The processors provide a flexible, programmable data fabric that can evolve through over-the-air updates, allowing OEMs to deploy software-defined platforms that grow in capability over time. Ethernovia positions its technology as the “nervous system” for physical AI, addressing networking bottlenecks that legacy in-vehicle and industrial networks cannot handle. The firm plans to use new capital to accelerate development and production of its next-generation packet processor family, broaden software and system capabilities, and deepen customer engagements across automotive, robotics and industrial markets. Specific financial or user metrics were not disclosed in the article.

Participated · Series D · Oct 2025

Empower Semiconductor is a San Jose-based power-management company focused on reducing the energy footprint of AI and other high-performance processors. Its proprietary FinFast architecture integrates voltage regulators directly with the processor package, delivering on-demand scalable power with high speed, precision, and signal integrity. By shrinking solution footprint, height, and component count, the technology enables vertical power delivery with superior power density and efficiency, lowering total cost of ownership for data-center operators. Led by founder and CEO Tim Phillips, the company positions itself as a critical enabler of the accelerating AI revolution. The newly secured Series D financing strengthens its balance sheet and supports expanded operations and R&D. Though revenue and user metrics were not disclosed, the backing of prominent growth investors underscores market confidence in its solution. Future plans include broadening development efforts and scaling deployment across next-generation AI infrastructure.