What are the latest funding news in the edge AI market? (April 2026)
Download our beautiful pitch about the edge AI market
In our edge AI market deck, you will find everything you need to understand the market
Edge AI funding remained active through late 2025 and into early 2026, with capital flowing across chips, on-device software, and physical AI systems.
The deals below show investors backing startups that push inference out of the cloud and closer to cameras, vehicles, robots, and industrial assets.
And if you want to better understand this new industry, you can download our pitch covering the edge AI market.
Insights
- Edge AI semiconductor plays dominate the capital stack, with Axelera AI alone pulling in more than $250M, far ahead of any software-only round in this cohort and signaling that investors still see inference silicon as the scarcest layer.
- Physical AI is quietly becoming the center of gravity, with Gather AI, Flexion, Turing, Forgis, and Energy Robotics all raising in under six months to put inference inside drones, humanoids, cars, factory machines, and inspection robots.
- Europe punched above its weight in this window, with Axelera AI, Helin, Flexion, Forgis, and Energy Robotics all raising from European hubs, suggesting that edge AI is one of the few AI categories where European deeptech is holding genuine share.
- Corporate and strategic investors are unusually active, with DENSO, Samsung Catalyst, Canon, Sony, Zoho, and BlackRock appearing across Turing, Axelera, and Netrasemi, reflecting how hardware-software coupling at the edge rewards industrially literate capital.
- Round sizes show a clear barbell, with two rounds above $80M, four between $25M and $50M, and the rest clustered around $10M to $15M, a pattern that tracks how edge AI startups either need heavy capital for silicon or stay lean on on-device software.
- On-device model runtimes are emerging as a real category, with Mirai and Quadric both funded to make inference practical on phones, laptops, and embedded chips, a space that barely existed as a venture category two years ago.
- Industrial and infrastructure edge AI is attracting specialist climate and industrial funds, with Blue Bear Capital, Climate Investment, and FORWARD.one backing Energy Robotics and Helin to run AI directly on offshore, energy, and critical infrastructure assets.
- Japan is quietly building a sovereign autonomous driving stack, with Turing raising around $99M at a roughly $388M valuation from a syndicate of more than twenty Japanese strategics, a striking contrast to the US-centric narrative around self-driving.
- Valuation disclosure remains rare in edge AI, with only Turing and Netrasemi publishing figures, a reminder that most edge AI rounds in this window were priced privately and reported on amount alone.
- Seed and pre-seed activity is alive but selective, with Mirai and Forgis the only sub-$15M rounds in this cohort, suggesting early-stage edge AI capital is concentrating in a smaller number of high-conviction bets rather than spraying widely.
- Neuromorphic and ultra-low-power architectures are still attracting capital despite a tough public-market backdrop, with BrainChip raising $25M to push Akida 2 and on-device GenAI, showing that unconventional edge AI chip approaches remain fundable.
As this chart shows, and as featured in our edge AI market deck, search interest in edge AI has increased sharply
Summary table of the latest funding deals in the edge AI market as of April 2026
We define the edge AI market as AI inference that runs on devices or compute nodes located close to where data is generated, rather than in large centralized cloud data centers.
We include AI running on end devices such as sensors, cameras, robots, vehicles, and phones, local gateways and industrial PCs, on-premise servers at customer sites like factories, stores, hospitals, and campuses, and telecom or MEC edge nodes that serve nearby users or machines.
We exclude model training infrastructure, AI workloads that run only in hyperscale or central enterprise data centers, and cloud analytics that process edge data but do not execute AI models close to the data source.
You can also read our detailed analysis to understand how funding activity in the edge AI market has evolved over the last few years.
We also have a quarter-by-quarter analysis of funding activity in the market here.
Finally, you can check our complete list of fundraising deals for the edge AI market (we update this list every quarter) as well as our ranking of the most funded startups.
| Name | When | Amount in $ | Round Type | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netrasemi | July 25, 2025 | $12.5M | Series A | Edge AI SoCs & IoT semiconductor |
| SiMa.ai | August 1, 2025 | $85M | Oversubscribed round | Edge ML SoC & physical AI platform |
| Energy Robotics | October 7, 2025 | $13.5M | Series A | Industrial inspection robotics & edge autonomy software |
| Forgis | November 13, 2025 | $4.5M | Pre-Seed | Industrial machine autonomy & factory edge software |
| Turing Inc. | November 17, 2025 | $99M | Series A first close | Autonomous driving & vehicle edge AI |
| Flexion | November 20, 2025 | $50M | Series A | Robot autonomy & embodied edge AI |
| BrainChip | December 10, 2025 | $25M | Post-IPO financing | Neuromorphic edge AI chips & modules |
| Quadric | January 14, 2026 | $30M | Series C | Semiconductor IP & on-device inference engine |
| Helin | January 22, 2026 | $11M | Growth round | Industrial edge intelligence & on-prem platform |
| Gather AI | February 9, 2026 | $40M | Series B | Warehouse physical AI & enterprise edge vision |
| Mirai | February 19, 2026 | $10M | Seed | On-device runtime & developer SDK |
| Axelera AI | February 24, 2026 | $250M+ | Growth round | Edge inference chips & semiconductor |
All the latest funding deals during in the edge AI market as of April 2026
Axelera AI raised more than $250M in a growth round announced in February 2026 to scale its edge inference chip business
When was it?
The deal was announced on February 24, 2026.
Who are they?
Axelera AI designs power-efficient inference chips so computer vision and generative AI workloads can run directly on edge devices instead of sending everything back to the cloud.
Geographical focus?
Axelera AI has a strong European base but sells globally and had just reached its 500th global customer before the round.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Axelera AI is a textbook edge AI company, building edge-first inference hardware in the edge inference chips and semiconductor category.
What is the company stage?
Axelera AI is at a growth stage, scaling commercial traction across a large customer base.
How much did they raise?
Axelera AI raised more than $250M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was described as a growth round rather than a named series.
Why did they raise?
Axelera AI raised to scale commercial growth and meet rising demand for AI inference running closer to where data is generated.
Mirai raised $10M in a Seed round announced in February 2026 to improve on-device model inference for phones and laptops
When was it?
The deal was announced on February 19, 2026.
Who are they?
Mirai builds an on-device inference runtime and developer layer that makes AI models run faster on phones and laptops, with a particular focus on Apple Silicon.
Geographical focus?
Mirai is based in London and targets developers globally.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Mirai sits in the on-device runtime and developer SDK category, since its entire product is about running AI locally on consumer end devices.
What is the company stage?
Mirai is at an early PMF stage, with a working engine, an SDK roadmap, and a small team still early in go-to-market.
How much did they raise?
Mirai raised $10M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was a Seed.
Why did they raise?
Mirai raised to make local AI practical for app developers by improving speed, privacy, and unit economics on consumer hardware.
This chart, featured in our edge AI market deck, compares the main business model options for edge AI accelerator companies
Gather AI raised $40M in a Series B announced in February 2026 to expand its physical AI platform for warehouses
When was it?
The deal was announced on February 9, 2026.
Who are they?
Gather AI uses warehouse drones, cameras, and physical AI software to give logistics facilities real-time inventory visibility.
Geographical focus?
Gather AI is expanding its footprint across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Gather AI fits in the warehouse physical AI and enterprise edge vision category, since its models run inside warehouses on drones and equipment right where data is captured.
What is the company stage?
Gather AI is at a growth stage, with strong customer rollout and sharp expansion activity.
How much did they raise?
Gather AI raised $40M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was a Series B.
Why did they raise?
Gather AI raised to scale its physical AI platform globally for logistics operators.
Helin raised around $11M in a growth round announced in January 2026 to scale industrial edge intelligence on remote assets
When was it?
The deal was announced on January 22, 2026.
Who are they?
Helin builds an industrial edge intelligence platform that runs software directly on vessels, offshore assets, and remote energy sites so operators can monitor and control them in real time.
Geographical focus?
Helin is strongest in offshore, renewables, maritime, and industrial sites, with international customers including Shell and BP.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Helin belongs in the industrial edge intelligence and on-prem platform category, since its AI and analytics run directly on customer assets rather than centralized cloud infrastructure.
What is the company stage?
Helin is moving from PMF into growth, with more than 80 employees and 12x signed ARR growth over three years.
How much did they raise?
Helin raised around $11M in this round, equivalent to roughly €10M.
What round is it?
The round was a growth round.
Why did they raise?
Helin raised to expand international sales and deepen its platform for secure, low-latency industrial AI running on site.
This chart, featured in our edge AI market deck, shows how Hailo is winning in edge AI
Quadric raised $30M in a Series C announced in January 2026 to scale on-device inference IP for AI chips
When was it?
The deal was announced on January 14, 2026.
Who are they?
Quadric licenses a programmable inference engine and toolchain that chipmakers embed so vision and LLM workloads can run on-device.
Geographical focus?
Quadric sells globally across automotive, enterprise, and consumer edge markets.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Quadric is squarely in the semiconductor IP and on-device inference engine category, since its entire business is built around local inference.
What is the company stage?
Quadric is at a growth stage, with accelerating design wins and total funding reaching $72M.
How much did they raise?
Quadric raised $30M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was a Series C.
Why did they raise?
Quadric raised to scale adoption as more chip designs need local inference for edge LLM and vision workloads.
BrainChip raised $25M in a post-IPO financing announced in December 2025 to commercialize next-generation neuromorphic edge AI chips
When was it?
The deal was announced on December 10, 2025.
Who are they?
BrainChip builds neuromorphic processors and modules under the Akida brand for ultra-low-power, always-on AI at the edge.
Geographical focus?
BrainChip sells globally across industrial, consumer, mobile, and embedded markets.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
BrainChip fits in the neuromorphic edge AI chips and modules category, since its products are built around real-time on-device AI with no cloud dependency.
What is the company stage?
BrainChip is at a commercial scale-up stage, already publicly listed and funding commercialization of Akida 2 and Akida GenAI products.
How much did they raise?
BrainChip raised $25M in this financing.
What round is it?
The round was a post-IPO capital raise, not a traditional venture series.
Why did they raise?
BrainChip raised to accelerate commercialization of next-generation edge AI chips, modules, and on-device GenAI.
In our edge AI market deck, we identify pain points entrepreneurs should prioritize
Flexion raised $50M in a Series A announced in November 2025 to build the autonomy brain for humanoid robots
When was it?
The deal was announced on November 20, 2025.
Who are they?
Flexion builds the autonomy and control stack for humanoid robots rather than the robot body itself.
Geographical focus?
Flexion is based in Zurich and expanding internationally, including into the United States.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Flexion belongs in the robot autonomy and embodied edge AI category, since the brain for a humanoid has to run close to sensors and actuators inside the robot.
What is the company stage?
Flexion is at an early growth stage, with a strong technical team, OEM work underway, and commercial scale-up beginning.
How much did they raise?
Flexion raised $50M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was a Series A.
Why did they raise?
Flexion raised to expand R&D, add compute and robot fleets, open a US presence, and speed commercialization.
Turing Inc. raised around $99M in a Series A first close announced in November 2025 to accelerate full autonomous driving in Japan
When was it?
The deal was announced on November 17, 2025.
Who are they?
Turing Inc. is building full autonomous driving systems and end-to-end autonomy AI for vehicles.
Geographical focus?
Turing Inc. is focused on Japan first, with a syndicate of more than twenty Japanese strategic investors.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Turing Inc. fits in the autonomous driving and vehicle edge AI category, since self-driving requires AI inference to happen inside the vehicle.
What is the company stage?
Turing Inc. is at a growth stage, with very large compute and dataset expansion underway but still pre-scale autonomy deployment.
How much did they raise?
Turing Inc. raised around $99M in this round, including debt, at a valuation of about $388M.
What round is it?
The round was a Series A first close.
Why did they raise?
Turing Inc. raised to expand compute, datasets, talent, and go-to-market for full self-driving.
This market map, featured in our edge AI market deck, highlights top companies and startups in the edge AI market
Forgis raised around $4.5M in a Pre-Seed announced in November 2025 to automate industrial machines on the factory floor
When was it?
The deal was announced on November 13, 2025.
Who are they?
Forgis builds software that gives factory machines and robots a shared adaptive control layer so they can operate more autonomously on the shop floor.
Geographical focus?
Forgis is a Swiss company focused first on European manufacturing.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Forgis belongs in the industrial machine autonomy and factory edge software category, since its product is about making machines act autonomously where the machines are.
What is the company stage?
Forgis is at a pre-product to MVP stage, newly founded and running early pilots.
How much did they raise?
Forgis raised around $4.5M in this round, equivalent to roughly €3.8M.
What round is it?
The round was a Pre-Seed.
Why did they raise?
Forgis raised to keep building software that helps factories diagnose bottlenecks and improve production autonomously.
Energy Robotics raised $13.5M in a Series A announced in October 2025 to scale AI-powered autonomous inspections of critical infrastructure
When was it?
The deal was announced on October 7, 2025.
Who are they?
Energy Robotics provides an AI software platform for autonomous inspections with robots and drones across critical infrastructure.
Geographical focus?
Energy Robotics is headquartered in Germany and operates on five continents.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Energy Robotics fits in the industrial inspection robotics and edge autonomy software category, since autonomous inspections require sensor processing and decision making at the infrastructure edge.
What is the company stage?
Energy Robotics is at a growth stage, having completed more than one million inspections before the round.
How much did they raise?
Energy Robotics raised $13.5M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was a Series A.
Why did they raise?
Energy Robotics raised to scale deployments across energy, chemical, industrial, and security sectors where local autonomy improves safety and efficiency.
This chart, featured in our edge AI market deck, illustrates yearly funding for edge AI startups
SiMa.ai raised $85M in an oversubscribed round announced in August 2025 to scale its physical AI platform
When was it?
The deal was announced on August 1, 2025.
Who are they?
SiMa.ai builds a hardware-plus-software platform for physical AI, centered on MLSoCs and tooling for robots, industrial systems, automotive, defense, and smart vision.
Geographical focus?
SiMa.ai targets global markets across industrial, automotive, defense, and consumer applications.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
SiMa.ai belongs in the edge ML SoC and physical AI platform category, since its core platform is purpose-built for power-efficient local inference in physical systems.
What is the company stage?
SiMa.ai is at a growth stage, with $355M in total funding and a scale-up focused on expansion rather than first commercialization.
How much did they raise?
SiMa.ai raised $85M in this round.
What round is it?
The round was described as an oversubscribed round, often tagged by databases as Series C-II.
Why did they raise?
SiMa.ai raised to expand globally, invest in software, strengthen go-to-market and customer success, and deepen its automotive roadmap.
Netrasemi raised around $12.5M in a Series A announced in July 2025 to scale edge AI SoCs for smart IoT devices
When was it?
The deal was announced on July 25, 2025.
Who are they?
Netrasemi develops system-on-chips for smart IoT devices that handle computer vision, sensor fusion, and analytics directly on the device.
Geographical focus?
Netrasemi is focused on India first, with plans to expand its product portfolio internationally.
Why do we include them in the edge AI market?
Netrasemi fits in the edge AI SoCs and IoT semiconductor category, since the company builds chips explicitly for AI workloads running on the device itself.
What is the company stage?
Netrasemi is at an early growth stage, moving from validation into manufacturing and expansion.
How much did they raise?
Netrasemi raised around $12.5M in this round, equivalent to about ₹107 crore, at a valuation of roughly $74M.
What round is it?
The round was a Series A.
Why did they raise?
Netrasemi raised to expand R&D, production capability, and the product portfolio for robotics, surveillance, and smart infrastructure.
Related blog posts
- How strong is fundraising in the edge AI market right now?
- The latest news from the Edge AI market
- How large is the Edge AI market today?
- The evolution of funding activity in the Edge AI market
- The main fundraising trends in the Edge AI market
- A full overview of funding deals in the Edge AI market
- The startups that have raised the most funding in the Edge AI market
