As AI data centers hit power limits, Peak XV backs Indian startup C2i to fix the bottleneck | TechCrunch

"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."

"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."

"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 "grid-to-GPU" system spanning the data-center bus to the processor itself. By treating power conversion, control and packaging as an integrated platform, C2i estimates it can cut end-to-end losses by around 10% - roughly 100 kilowatts saved for every megawatt consumed - with knock-on effects for cooling costs, GPU utilisation and overall data"

Power is becoming the primary constraint on scaling AI data centers, driving investment in system-level power solutions. C2i Semiconductors raised $15 million in a Series A led by Peak XV Partners, bringing total funding to $19 million. Global data-center electricity demand is forecast to surge, with projections of near-tripling by 2035 and a 175% increase by 2030 from 2023 levels. Major energy loss occurs during internal power conversion, wasting roughly 15–20%. C2i redesigns power delivery as an integrated, plug-and-play grid-to-GPU platform and estimates about a 10% reduction in end-to-end losses, lowering cooling and utilization costs.

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