Upscale AI
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Investors
Founders
About
Upscale AI builds full-stack AI networking infrastructure — spanning silicon, systems, and software — designed to connect accelerators, memory, and storage into a unified high-performance fabric for large-scale AI training and inference workloads 123. The Santa Clara-based company is co-founded by CEO Barun Kar and Executive Chairman Rajiv Khemani, both veterans of networking semiconductors 12. Upscale AI closed a $200M Series A in January 2026 and added a $190M Series A-1 extension on June 22, 2026, reaching $500M in total funding at a $2 billion valuation in under six months 123.
Funding History
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead | Co-investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-22 | Series A-1 | $190M | Premji Invest | Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Seligman Ventures, Temasek (new); Maverick Silicon, Mayfield, Prosperity7 Ventures, StepStone Group, Tiger Global (existing) 1234 |
| 2026-01 | Series A | $200M | — | (per company announcement; participating investors not separately disclosed) 23 |
What Investors Say
Sandesh Patnam, Premji Invest, on Upscale AI’s approach: the team has a “differentiated architectural approach” addressing “one of the most critical bottlenecks in AI infrastructure” 2.
Emily Zhao, Salesforce Ventures: “Open-standard fabrics will become critical” as AI clusters expand across varied environments 2.
What Founders Say
Barun Kar, CEO, Upscale AI: “Networking is one of the most critical bottlenecks” in AI infrastructure; Upscale AI is building solutions “purpose-built for large-scale, synchronized workloads” 2.
“The world in the future is going to be a variety of heterogeneous AI systems. It’s not an Nvidia or our solution.” — Rajiv Khemani, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Upscale AI, Fortune interview, June 22, 2026 4
Sources
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TechStartups, “Upscale AI raises $190M from Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures for AI networking infrastructure, hits $2B valuation,” June 22, 2026. Accessed June 2026. https://techstartups.com/2026/06/22/upscale-ai-raises-190m-from-nvidia-salesforce-ventures-for-ai-networking-infrastructure-hits-2b-valuation/↩↩↩↩
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Pulse 2.0, “Upscale AI Raises $190 Million Series A-1 At $2 Billion Valuation For AI Networking Infrastructure,” June 22, 2026. Accessed June 2026. https://pulse2.com/upscale-ai-raises-190-million-series-a-1-at-2-billion-valuation-for-ai-networking-infrastructure-company/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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BusinessWire, “Upscale AI Adds $190 Million in Extension to Series A, Reaching Half-Billion Dollars in Total Funding,” June 22, 2026. Accessed June 2026. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260618053226/en/Upscale-AI-Adds-$190-Million-in-Extension-to-Series-A-Reaching-Half-Billion-Dollars-in-Total-Funding↩↩↩↩
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Fortune, “Exclusive: Upscale AI wants to be the next Cisco—and it just raised another $190 million,” June 22, 2026. Accessed June 2026. https://fortune.com/2026/06/22/nvidia-upscale-ai-next-ciscoand-seligman-ventures-premji/↩↩