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Quadric

Category: AI Infrastructure

A developer of the Chimera GPNPU (General Purpose Neural Processing Unit), a unified processor IP architecture that combines the high-performance efficiency of an NPU with the full programmability of a CPU and DSP. Quadric was founded in 2016. The company is led by Veerbhan Kheterpal. Based in Burlingame, USA. Team size: 50-100. Total funding raised: $72.0M ($42M + $30M Series C). Latest round: Series C ($30M, Jan 2026). Key investors include ["BEENEXT","NSITEXE (Denso)","MegaChips","Uncork Capital","Pear VC","Volta Ventures"].

Founded
2016
Headquarters
Burlingame, USA
Team size
50-100
Total funding
$72.0M ($42M + $30M Series C)

Value proposition

Eliminates the 'two-processor' bottleneck by allowing developers to run both neural network inference and general-purpose C++ code on a single unified core, significantly reducing latency, power consumption, and software complexity.

Products and solutions

["Chimera GPNPU IP Cores (QB Series and QC Series)","Chimera QC-M (Multi-core cluster scaling up to 864 TOPs)","Chimera SDK / Developers Studio (Unified C++ programming environment)","Chimera Graph Compiler (Automated model conversion)","Safety Enhanced (SE) Versions (ASIL-B and ASIL-D compliant for automotive)"]

Unique value

Pioneered the 'GPNPU' category, which treats AI as a general-purpose computing task rather than a fixed-function 'black box' acceleration, enabling the entire application pipeline to run on one core.

Target customer

System-on-Chip (SoC) developers, semiconductor companies, and OEMs in the automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics sectors.

Industries served

["Automotive (ADAS and Autonomous Driving)","Industrial Robotics and Automation","Consumer Electronics (IoT, Wearables, AI PCs)","Medical Imaging","Enterprise Vision Systems"]

Technology advantage

Provides a single-source C++ programming model that removes the need for manual code partitioning between NPUs and DSPs, offering up to 2.7x greater compute density (TOPs/mm2) than previous generations.

How they differentiate

Quadric differentiates through its 'GPNPU' (General Purpose Neural Processing Unit) architecture. Unlike traditional NPUs that require a separate DSP or CPU to handle non-neural network code (pre/post-processing), Quadric’s Chimera architecture runs both AI inference and general-purpose C++ code on a single unified core, eliminating data movement bottlenecks and simplifying software development.

Main competitors

["Arm (Ethos-U and Ethos-N series)","Cadence (Tensilica AI IP)","Synopsys (DesignWare ARC EV Processors)","Hailo","Blaize"]

Key partnerships

["DENSO (Co-development of in-vehicle AI semiconductors)","Kyocera (Licensing partner for consumer and automotive products)","MegaChips (Strategic investor and integration partner)","NSITEXE (Subsidiary of DENSO for automotive IP)","Tier IV (Autonomous driving software integration)"]

Notable customers

["Denso","Kyocera","MegaChips","Tier IV"]

Major milestones

["Pioneered the 'GPNPU' category for unified AI and C++ processing.","Achieved ASIL-B and ASIL-D safety compliance for automotive applications.","Successfully transitioned from a hardware-chip company to a Silicon IP licensing model.","Closed $30M Series C in January 2025 to fuel global expansion."]

Growth metrics

Scaled licensing revenue by 3x in 2024; projected revenue of $15M+ for 2025.

Market positioning

High-performance Silicon IP provider for Edge AI, targeting the 'middle ground' between low-power microcontrollers and high-end server GPUs.

Geographic focus

Global, with a primary focus on North America and the Asia-Pacific region (specifically Japan, due to strategic partnerships with Denso and MegaChips).

Patents and IP

Holds a significant portfolio of patents related to parallel processing architectures, data flow management, and unified memory structures for on-device AI (specific public filings include proprietary GPNPU architecture designs).

About Veerbhan Kheterpal

Veerbhan Kheterpal is a serial entrepreneur and semiconductor expert with over 20 years of experience in silicon and software. He was a technical co-founder of 21.co (formerly 21inc, acquired by Coinbase), where he led the development of power-efficient ASICs. Previously, he served as VP of Engineering at Factual (acquired by Foursquare) and held senior engineering roles at PDF Solutions. He holds a PhD and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur.

Official website: