• UAE-based Mastiska raises USD 10M from GCC sovereign funds to build data-center-class AI chips and inference accelerators.
• The startup focuses on sovereign AI, combining Abu Dhabi model team and India VLSI team for secure chip development.
• First product: custom FPGA cards; long-term goal: UAE fabless semiconductor company serving GCC, South Asia, BRICS, and Global South.

Mastiska

UAE-based Mastiska raised USD 10 million in a seed funding round mainly from sovereign wealth funds in the GCC.  This is to build data-center class inference accelerators.

Looking forward, with the new funding, it aims to develop its technology and build a UAE-based fabless semiconductor company. It intends for this semiconductor company to be enabled by open-source technologies.

The founder’s idea is that sovereign AI starts with sovereign silicon. Thus, the startup intends to build sovereign AI chips with its model creation team in Abu Dhabi, and a VLSI team in India. In addition, it seeks to allow its customers to have full access to audit the design for cybersecurity purposes. 

The startup intends for its potential customers to be in the UAE, GCC, South East Asia, BRICS, and the Global South. Thus, it does not aim to enter the competitive AI chip market between the US and China.

Sovereign AI

Its first product will be custom FPGA cards loaded with the company’s IP which it intends to deploy as a commercial product and not just a prototype. In addition, the startup has a model team that is working on brain-inspired models. This includes modified transformers that can rapidly improve performance and energy efficiency.

Founded in 2024 by Suresh Sugumar, Mastiska is a fabless semiconductor startup  with a focus on sovereign AI hardware. It builds data-center-class inference accelerators and AI chips for AI workloads.

In short, it is an AI chip and hardware startup aiming to reduce reliance on U.S. and Chinese suppliers. Thus, it aims to serve sovereign customers in the GCC, South Asia, and the Global South.