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Sagence AI has raised $46.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Sagence AI.
Sagence AI has raised $46.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Sagence AI develops advanced analog in-memory compute architectures for artificial intelligence. The company engineers specialized analog chips for highly efficient execution of complex AI models, significantly lowering energy consumption and operational costs over digital inference. This technology provides sustainable, high-performance processing vital for pervasive AI.
Vishal Sarin founded Sagence AI in 2018, initially Analog Inference, to address AI's escalating economic and energy demands. Holding numerous patents in analog and memory techniques, Sarin identified critical limitations in existing digital infrastructure. This insight catalyzed the creation of a novel in-memory compute solution, enabling viable, scalable AI.
The company's architecture targets diverse applications needing efficient AI inference, especially in generative AI and intelligent devices. Sagence AI's vision seeks to make human-like intelligence universally accessible, economically viable across practical systems. They advance computing through the responsible deployment of high-performance artificial intelligence.
Sagence AI has raised $46.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Sagence AI's investors include 7percent Ventures, Alumni Ventures, VZVC, Kevin Colas, TDK Ventures.
Key people at Sagence AI.
Sagence AI has raised $46.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $22.0M Series A in May 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2023 | $22M Series A | — | 7percent Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Vzvc, Kevin Colas | Announced |
| Apr 1, 2021 | $24M Series U | — | TDK Ventures | Announced |
Sagence AI is a Santa Clara, California-based technology company specializing in analog in-memory computing chips for AI inference, delivering high performance at ultra-low power for applications from data centers to edge devices.[1][2][3] Formerly known as Analog Inference, it accelerates content generation, personalized experiences, real-time anomaly detection, and video analysis, serving sectors like content creation, customer experience, quality control, and security monitoring.[1][2] The company solves key limitations of digital GPUs—high power, cost, and latency—enabling economically viable, sustainable pervasive AI with order-of-magnitude better performance per watt on mature process nodes.[1][3] Founded in 2018, Sagence has raised $58 million from investors including Vinod Khosla, TDK Ventures, and Cambium Capital, employs 75 people, and plans commercial chips in 2025 with multiple customers engaged.[3]
Sagence AI, originally Analog Inference, was founded in 2018 by Vishal Sarin, a semiconductor veteran with over 25 years of experience, 100+ patents in analog in-memory computing using non-volatile memories, an MSEE from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from UC Berkeley.[1][3][4] Sarin, now President and CEO, identified the need to overcome performance, power, and economic barriers restricting pervasive AI, particularly at the edge where digital solutions fall short.[3] Key leadership includes Yasantha Rajakarunanayake, VP of AIML Software, with 30+ years in high-tech, a PhD in Applied Physics from Caltech, and expertise in AI numerics from roles at MediaTek and Broadcom.[4] The company emerged from stealth to pioneer deep subthreshold analog compute, backed early by TDK Ventures for its novel AI inference accelerators, achieving pivotal recognition like inclusion in EE Times' 2025 Silicon 100 Startups Worth Watching.[2][4][5]
Sagence rides the analog AI chip trend, addressing explosive AI inference demands amid GPU shortages, power crises, and sustainability pressures for ubiquitous generative AI.[2][3][6] Timing aligns with rebounding semiconductor VC funding—$5.3B to chip startups in early 2024—fueled by edge AI needs in video surveillance, autonomous systems, and real-time processing.[1][3] Market forces like energy limits of digital compute and rising data center costs favor its low-power, affordable model, unlocking edge deployment for sectors like security and quality control.[1][2][5] By innovating chiplets for analog in-memory compute, Sagence influences the ecosystem, enabling responsible AI proliferation and competing in a field where analog ventures challenge NVIDIA dominance.[2][3][4]
Sagence AI is poised for 2025 market entry with system-level products, expanding its 75-person team via new funding to capture edge AI demand in video and beyond.[3] Trends like chiplet integration and subthreshold compute will amplify its edge, potentially disrupting incumbents as AI shifts to efficient inference over training.[2][4] Its influence may evolve from niche innovator to key enabler of sustainable, pervasive AI, scaling via partnerships and riding semiconductor investment resurgence—realizing analog's promise for economic, green AI ubiquity.[3][5][6]
