{"id":106008,"date":"2026-02-16T09:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/as-ai-data-centers-hit-power-limits-peak-xv-backs-indian-startup-c2i-to-fix-the-bottleneck\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T09:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:52:21","slug":"as-ai-data-centers-hit-power-limits-peak-xv-backs-indian-startup-c2i-to-fix-the-bottleneck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/as-ai-data-centers-hit-power-limits-peak-xv-backs-indian-startup-c2i-to-fix-the-bottleneck\/","title":{"rendered":"As AI data centers hit power limits, Peak XV backs Indian startup C2i to fix the bottleneck"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Power, rather than compute, is fast becoming the limiting factor in scaling AI data centers. That shift has prompted Peak XV Partners to back C2i Semiconductors<\/a>, an Indian startup building plug-and-play, system-level power solutions designed to cut energy losses and improve the economics of large-scale AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n

C2i (which stands for control conversion and intelligence) has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Yali Deeptech and TDK Ventures, bringing the two-year-old startup\u2019s total funding to $19 million.<\/p>\n

The investment comes as data-center energy demand accelerates worldwide. Electricity consumption from data centers is projected to nearly triple by 2035<\/a>, per a December 2025 report from BloombergNEF, while Goldman Sachs Research estimates data-center power demand could surge 175% by 2030<\/a> from 2023 levels \u2014 the equivalent of adding another top-10 power-consuming country.<\/p>\n

Much of that strain comes not from generating electricity but from converting it efficiently inside data centers, where high-voltage power must be stepped down thousands of times before it reaches GPUs. This process currently wastes about 15% to 20% of energy, C2i\u2019s co-founder and CTO Preetam Tadeparthy said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat used to be 400 volts has already moved to 800 volts, and will likely go higher,\u201d Tadeparthy told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2024 by former Texas Instruments power executives Ram Anant, Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Tadeparthy, and Dattatreya Suryanarayana, along with Harsha S. B and Muthusubramanian N. V, C2i is redesigning power delivery as a single, plug-and-play \u201cgrid-to-GPU\u201d system spanning the data-center bus to the processor itself.<\/p>\n

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C2i co-founders Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Tadeparthy, Ram Anant, and Dattatreya Suryanarayana (Left to right)<\/span>Image Credits:<\/strong>C2i<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By treating power conversion, control and packaging as an integrated platform, C2i estimates it can cut end-to-end losses by around 10% \u2014 roughly 100 kilowatts saved for every megawatt consumed \u2014 with knock-on effects for cooling costs, GPU utilisation and overall data-center economics.<\/p>\n

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Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston, MA<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 23, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAll that translates directly to total cost of ownership, revenue, and profitability,\u201d Tadeparthy said.<\/p>\n

For Peak XV Partners (which split from Sequoia Capital<\/a> in 2023), the attraction lies in how power costs shape the economics of AI infrastructure at scale. Rajan Anandan, the venture firm\u2019s managing director, told TechCrunch that after the upfront capital investment in servers and facilities, energy costs become the dominant ongoing expense for data centers, making even incremental efficiency gains highly valuable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can reduce energy costs by, call it, 10 to 30%, that\u2019s like a huge number,\u201d Anandan said. \u201cYou\u2019re talking about tens of billions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The claims will be tested quickly. C2i expects its first two silicon designs to return from fabrication between April and June, after which the startup plans to validate performance with data-center operators and hyperscalers that have asked to review the data, according to Tadeparthy.<\/p>\n

The Bengaluru-based startup has built a team of about 65 engineers and is setting up customer-facing operations in the U.S. and Taiwan as it prepares for early deployments.<\/p>\n

Power delivery is one of the most entrenched parts of the data-center stack, long dominated by large incumbents with deep balance sheets and years-long qualification cycles. While many newer companies focus on improving individual components, redesigning power delivery end-to-end requires coordinating silicon, packaging, and system architecture simultaneously \u2014 a capital-intensive approach that few startups attempt and one that can take years to prove in production environments.<\/p>\n

Anandan said the real question now is execution, noting that all startups face technology, market, and team risks when betting on how industries evolve. In C2i\u2019s case, he said, the feedback loop should be relatively short. \u201cWe\u2019ll know in the next six months,\u201d said Anandan, pointing to upcoming silicon and early customer validation as the moment when the thesis will be tested.<\/p>\n

The bet also reflects how India\u2019s semiconductor design ecosystem has matured in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way you should look at semiconductors in India is, this is like 2008 e-commerce,\u201d said Anandan. \u201cIt\u2019s just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to the depth of engineering talent \u2014 with a growing share of global chip designers based in the country \u2014 alongside government-backed design-linked incentives that have lowered the cost and risk of tape-outs, making it increasingly viable for startups to build globally competitive semiconductor products from India rather than operate only as captive design centers.<\/p>\n

Whether those conditions translate into a globally competitive product will become clearer over the coming months, as C2i begins validating its system-level power solutions with customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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