Quadric, a San Francisco-based chip-IP startup, is adding dynamic momentum to the move toward powerful on-device artificial intelligence (AI). The firm’s founders were veterans of early bitcoin mining company 21E6. In addition to its U.S. headquarters, the company has an office in Pune, India. It uses less than 70 people worldwide, with half the staff in the U.S. and about a third in India. Quadric’s approach is different. They deliver next-generation programmable AI processor intellectual property (IP), allowing their customers to embed their technology directly into their own silicon.
Founded by a team looking to radically transform on-device AI, Quadric first focused on the automotive industry. The technology they provide enables real-time capabilities — like driver assistance — making all vehicles safer and improving the user experience. Fittingly enough, Quadric has themselves positioned as an alternative to chipmaking heavyweights like Qualcomm. Most importantly, it’s trying to find its place in an extremely crowded field.
Quadric’s technology is chip-agnostic and code-driven, allowing it to deploy seamlessly across different hardware architectures. It’s this so-called flexibility that is the biggest lure. It serves a wide range of customer industries such as printing, automotive and personal laptops. Their notable clients include Kyocera and Denso, a major automotive supplier in Japan.
The company recently celebrated an exciting new milestone! They recently closed a successful $30 million USD Series C funding round, co-led by ACCELERATE Fund and operated by BEENEXT Capital Management. This latest investment increases Quadric’s total funding to an impressive $72 million. This boosts the company’s post-money valuation from about $100 million at its 2022 Series B round to an impressive $270 million – $300 million today.
Quadric is on a solid financial trajectory as well. Projection year In 2025, it stated licensing revenue of $15 million to $20 million. This is a significant jump up from the $4 million they’re set to earn in 2024. The company has since raised their full-year licensing revenue expectations to a range of $30-35 million.
The first products using Quadric’s technology are just beginning to ship this year, leading off with laptops. For the startup, this North American launch serves as a significant milestone as they continue to grow their market footprint. Quadric is already actively looking to build those same kinds of partnerships in India and Malaysia. This effort goes a long way towards increasing its reach across Asia.
Quadric counts Moglix CEO Rahul Garg as one of its strategic investors. He is playing a key role to define the company’s overall direction on India’s “sovereign” market strategy. This partnership is a wonderful example of Quadric’s desire to localize its technology offerings to meet regional needs.
In discussing the competitive landscape of AI technologies, Veerbhan Kheterpal noted that “Nvidia is a strong platform for data-center AI.” Recognizing incumbents such as Nvidia underscores the long road to market. It shows just how big the opportunity is for upstart companies like Quadric.
Quadric is building next-generation innovative on-device AI technology. Strategic partnerships have only increased its growth potential, making Quadric a likely contender among the next big tech industry players. This ambitious new startup is setting themselves up for many more product launches. With further prospects as it further creates an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and small businesses, the future is bright!
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