Indian AI Chip Startup Agrani Labs Secures $8 Million Seed Funding Led by Peak XV Partners
February 2, 2026
In a significant move for India's burgeoning semiconductor sector, Bengaluru-based AI chip startup Agrani Labs has emerged from stealth mode with an $8 million seed funding round. The investment, led by prominent venture capital firm Peak XV Partners, signals growing investor confidence in India's potential to become a global player in the critical field of artificial intelligence hardware. The startup, founded in 2024 by a team of former Intel and AMD engineers including CEO Dheemanth Nagaraj, is developing a full-stack AI compute platform. This ambitious project encompasses custom-designed hardware, system software, compilers, and libraries, all aimed at data center deployments. The $8 million in fresh capital will be directed towards expanding the company's engineering teams and accelerating the development of its proprietary technology stack. Agrani Labs emphasizes that its integrated approach of building both hardware and software is designed to reduce the adoption barriers often associated with new, proprietary computing platforms. The funding round underscores the strategic importance of developing domestic semiconductor capabilities, especially in AI, as nations and companies seek to diversify supply chains and foster technological sovereignty. Commenting on the milestone, co-founder and CEO Dheemanth Nagaraj stated, "For a team that has lived and breathed compute architecture for decades, building an AI computer grounds-up to help advance the potential of this technology is gratifying. We are leveraging India’s immense semiconductor and software talent to build a product that will compete on the global stage." The emergence of Agrani Labs represents a notable step in India's broader ambitions to establish a foothold in the high-stakes global semiconductor industry, challenging established incumbents and contributing to a more diversified AI hardware ecosystem.
Source: datacenterdynamics
