As AI data centers hit power limits, Peak XV backs Indian startup C2i to fix the bottleneck | TechCrunch
Summary
C2i, an Indian startup, has raised $15 million to develop a grid-to-GPU power solution aimed at reducing energy losses in AI data centers, addressing a critical bottleneck as power demands surge.
Why It Matters
As AI data centers face increasing power consumption challenges, innovative solutions like C2i's can significantly impact operational costs and efficiency. This investment highlights the importance of energy management in scaling AI infrastructure, which is crucial for the industry's future sustainability.
Key Takeaways
- C2i has raised $15 million to enhance power efficiency in AI data centers.
- The startup aims to reduce energy losses by 10%, improving overall data center economics.
- Peak XV Partners recognizes the critical role of energy costs in AI infrastructure profitability.
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, 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. 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’s total funding to $19 million. The investment comes as data-center energy demand accelerates worldwide. Electricity consumption from data centers is projected to nearly triple by 2035, per a December 2025 report from BloombergNEF, while Goldman Sachs Research estimates data-center power demand could surge 175% by 2030 from 2023 levels — the equivalent of adding another top-10 power-consuming country. 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’s co-founder and CTO Preetam Tadeparthy said in an interview. “What used to be 400 volts has already moved to 800 volts, and will likely go higher,” Tadeparthy told TechCrunch. Founded in 2024 by former Texas Instruments power executives Ram Anant, Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Tadeparthy, and...
