Power — not compute — is rapidly becoming the biggest bottleneck in scaling AI data centers. That shift has led Peak XV Partners to invest $15 million in C2i Semiconductors, a Bengaluru-based startup building plug-and-play, system-level power solutions for AI infrastructure.

The round also saw participation from Yali Deeptech and TDK Ventures, bringing C2i’s total funding to $19 million.

Founded in 2024 by former Texas Instruments executives, C2i aims to redesign power delivery from “grid-to-GPU,” integrating conversion, control and packaging into one system. The company estimates it can reduce end-to-end energy losses by around 10% — a significant improvement in an industry where power costs are becoming the dominant operating expense.