Upscale AI is building a full-stack AI networking platform to keep pace with surging demand for accelerated compute. The company designs high-performance networking silicon, systems, and software that connect heterogeneous xPU clusters with ultra-low latency and high throughput.
By embracing open standards and open-source ecosystems, Upscale aims to break vendor lock-in and give hyperscalers, clouds, and enterprises a flexible, AI-native fabric. Backed by top-tier investors, the company is targeting a $20+ billion AI networking market, enabling data centers and AI clouds to scale reliably as model sizes, context windows, and workloads explode.
What Is Upscale AI and What Does It Do?
Upscale AI, founded in 2024 by Barun Kar and Rajiv Khemani, is a Palo Alto–based (United States) AI networking company.
The company develops a next-generation AI networking suite spanning silicon, systems, and software to deliver ultra-low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity for large-scale AI clusters.
Upscale AI employs over 100 employees. Its platform is built on open standards such as SONiC, SAI, Ultra Ethernet, and Ultra Accelerator Link, enabling AI data centers to interconnect massive heterogeneous compute deployments securely and efficiently. By combining deep networking expertise with AI workloads, Upscale helps customers build open, scalable fabrics for training frontier models, serving real-time inference, and powering edge and cloud-scale deployments.
How Much Funding Has Upscale AI Raised?
1. Seed Round
- Amount Raised: Over $100M
- Date: September 2025
- Lead Investors: Mayfield, Maverick Silicon
- Motivation: To launch Upscale AI out of Auradine’s incubation, scale its AI-native networking silicon and systems, and bring open-standard, high-performance networking solutions to AI data centers worldwide.
Total Funding Raised: $100 Million+
Latest Funding Date: September, 2025
Key Investors
1. Mayfield
- Details: Long-standing Silicon Valley venture firm with deep experience backing infrastructure and semiconductor companies from early stages.
- Investment Focus Areas: Enterprise infrastructure, AI, cloud, developer tools.
- Notable Investments: Upscale AI, HashiCorp, Rancher Labs, Lyft.
2. Maverick Silicon
- Details: Investment firm focused on next-generation compute and semiconductor innovations, co-leading Upscale AI’s large seed round.
- Investment Focus Areas: Chips, AI infrastructure, networking.
- Notable Investments: Upscale AI, Cerebras Systems.
3. Qualcomm Ventures
- Details: Corporate venture arm of Qualcomm, active in AI, edge compute, and networking ecosystems.
- Investment Focus Areas: Semiconductors, 5G, edge AI, IoT.
- Notable Investments: Upscale AI, Waze, Zoom, Brain Corp.
4. StepStone Group
- Details: Global private markets investment firm that participates in high-growth technology and infrastructure deals.
- Investment Focus Areas: Venture, growth equity, infrastructure, private equity.
- Notable Investments: Upscale AI, Databricks, Snowflake.
Where Is Upscale AI’s Headquarters?
Upscale AI is headquartered in Palo Alto, California (United States), at the heart of Silicon Valley’s networking, silicon, and AI infrastructure ecosystem. This location provides access to top chip designers, cloud architects, and hyperscale customers, as well as deep collaboration with open-standards bodies and hardware partners driving the next wave of AI data center designs.
What’s Next for Upscale AI?
Upscale AI plans to use its nine-figure seed round to productize and scale its open, AI-native networking stack across global data centers. Near-term priorities include shipping production-ready networking racks, expanding support for leading xPU vendors, and hardening its software stack for large cloud and enterprise deployments.
As AI clusters grow to hundreds of thousands of accelerators, Upscale aims to become the default open networking layer that connects heterogeneous compute at ultra-low latency unlocking more efficient training, faster inference, and more cost-effective AI infrastructure worldwide.
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