Ethernovia raises $90M as investors rush to fund 'Physical AI' | TechCrunch

"Investors and companies alike are trying to leverage developmental gains in AI to make leaps in technologies like robotics and autonomous vehicles - what's being referred to now as "Physical AI." That means some of the billions of dollars flowing to AI startups is starting to spill towards suppliers doing behind-the-scenes work to make these technologies real. The latest case is Ethernovia, which on Tuesday announced a $90 million Series B."

"The San Jose-based company makes Ethernet-based processors that help collect data from sensors scattered around a system - like in an autonomous vehicle - and quickly move it to a central computer. The company was already backed by Porsche SE and Qualcomm Ventures, but this round was led by Maverick Silicon - an AI-focused fund created in 2024 by hedge fund Maverick Capital. It was the first sector-specific fund that Maverick Capital launched in its 30-year history."

Developmental gains in AI are being applied to physical domains such as robotics and autonomous vehicles under the concept of "Physical AI". Billions in AI funding are beginning to flow to supplier companies that enable hardware and system integration. Ethernovia raised $90 million in a Series B round to advance Ethernet-based processors that aggregate sensor data across systems and route it rapidly to central computers. The company builds processors to collect data from distributed sensors and move it to a central compute unit for processing. Existing backers include Porsche SE and Qualcomm Ventures. The latest round was led by Maverick Silicon, a sector-focused AI fund launched by Maverick Capital in 2024.

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