# Sid Sheth
**Sid Sheth** is an Indian-born semiconductor executive who co-founded [d-Matrix](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-matrix) in 2019 and serves as its chief executive officer and president, leading the [Santa Clara, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-clara-california) company's work on AI inference chips.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) He holds an MSEE from [Purdue University](https://www.edgepedia.org/purdue-university) (1997) and previously ran Inphi Corporation's Networking Business Unit, which grew past $1 billion in revenue before Marvell acquired Inphi in a $10 billion deal.[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) d-Matrix has raised $450 million in announced funding at a $2 billion valuation, with roughly $500 million reported by mid-2026.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Co-founder, CEO, and president of d-Matrix (2019– )[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) |
| Education | MSEE, Purdue University, 1997[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) |
| Prior roles | SVP and GM, Networking Business Unit, Inphi; senior marketing and R&D roles at NetLogic Microsystems (now Broadcom) and Intel[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) |
| Co-founder | Sudeep Bhoja, CTO[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) |
| Funding | $450M announced ($44M Series A 2022; $110M Series B 2023; $275M Series C 2025 at $2B valuation), with earlier funding; ~$500M reported by 2026[4](https://www.fortuneindia.com/business-news/were-2-3x-cheaper-10x-faster-than-gpus-d-matrix-founder-sid-sheth-bets-on-inference-to-democratise-ai/130806) • [5](https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-chip-startup-d-matrix-raises-110-mln-with-backing-microsoft-2023-09-06/) • [1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html) |
| Scale | 250+ employees (Nov 2025), 300+ across five sites (2026)[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) |
| Main products | Corsair inference accelerator (shipping June 2026); Raptor ASIC planned Q4 2027[3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html) • [6](https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601) |
## Early career: NetLogic, Intel and Inphi
Before d-Matrix, Sheth held senior roles in marketing and R&D at NetLogic Microsystems, which Broadcom later acquired, and at Intel.[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) His most senior pre-founding position was senior vice president and general manager of the Networking Business Unit at Inphi Corporation (NASDAQ: IPHI), where he incubated and scaled the business into a $1 billion-plus franchise; Marvell acquired Inphi in a $10 billion transaction.[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) Co-founder Sudeep Bhoja was earlier CTO of Inphi's Datacenter Business Unit and held leadership roles in Broadcom's Infrastructure and Networking Group; both men are Indian-born and were senior executives at Inphi when they left to start d-Matrix.[7](https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/startup/this-microsoft-backed-startup-wants-to-rival-nvidia-in-ai-chips-meet-its-indian-american-founders-ws-l-19922738.htm) • [8](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/indian-born-founders-of-d-matrix-lead-the-ai-inference-revolution/articleshow/128408199.cms) Sheth serves on Purdue's ECE Advisory Board.[2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth)
## Founding d-Matrix and the inference thesis
Sheth and Bhoja founded d-Matrix in 2019 in Santa Clara with a singular focus on inference, the phase of AI in which a trained model generates outputs, rather than training.[9](https://www.techcircle.in/2026/03/11/lower-inference-costs-could-dramatically-expand-enterprise-ai-adoption-d-matrix-ceo) • [1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) Sheth told EE Times the company was founded on feedback from hyperscalers that inference was going to be a big opportunity.[10](https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/) The thesis was contrarian at the time: Sheth has described investor meetings in which he proposed "an inference computing company" and was asked "what is inference?"[8](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/indian-born-founders-of-d-matrix-lead-the-ai-inference-revolution/articleshow/128408199.cms) He places d-Matrix in a "second wave" of AI chip companies, founded before ChatGPT, when many peers focused on training or edge computer vision.[11](https://thedataexchange.media/sid-sheth-d-matrix/)
Two early decisions shaped the product. In 2020 the company pivoted to emphasize generative Transformer-based workloads, away from CNN and recommender workloads.[12](https://m12.vc/news/founders-feature-d-matrix/) The same year it taped out its first test chip, Nighthawk, using an SRAM-based multiply-accumulate array with analog addition; customer feedback on accuracy led d-Matrix to replace the analog addition with a digital adder tree in the commercial product.[10](https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/) Sheth has explained the move as a modification of analog in-memory compute into digital in-memory compute (DIMC) for reliability at scale.[8](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/indian-born-founders-of-d-matrix-lead-the-ai-inference-revolution/articleshow/128408199.cms) His stated thesis is that inference economics, not training scale, determines whether AI is broadly affordable; he has set a goal of 50% of the world's AI decisions running through d-Matrix solutions, and analysts cited by [The Economic Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-economic-times) estimate inference already accounts for more than 60% of AI compute spend at major hyperscalers.[4](https://www.fortuneindia.com/business-news/were-2-3x-cheaper-10x-faster-than-gpus-d-matrix-founder-sid-sheth-bets-on-inference-to-democratise-ai/130806) • [8](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/indian-born-founders-of-d-matrix-lead-the-ai-inference-revolution/articleshow/128408199.cms)
## Funding and ownership
Funding progressed in four steps. In 2022 d-Matrix raised a $44 million Series A with participation from M12 (Microsoft's venture arm), Playground Global, SK Hynix, and Marvell.[4](https://www.fortuneindia.com/business-news/were-2-3x-cheaper-10x-faster-than-gpus-d-matrix-founder-sid-sheth-bets-on-inference-to-democratise-ai/130806) In September 2023 it raised a $110 million Series B led by Singapore's Temasek and including Playground Global and Microsoft, at a time when Reuters reported many chip companies were struggling to raise cash.[5](https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-chip-startup-d-matrix-raises-110-mln-with-backing-microsoft-2023-09-06/) In November 2023 the company emerged from stealth announcing $154 million raised in total from more than 25 backers.[12](https://m12.vc/news/founders-feature-d-matrix/) On November 12, 2025 it closed a $275 million Series C at a $2 billion valuation, bringing announced funding to $450 million.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) Bloomberg reported the round's new investors as [Qatar Investment Authority](https://www.edgepedia.org/qatar-investment-authority) and Singapore's EDBI.[13](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-12/ai-chipmaker-d-matrix-valued-at-2-billion-in-latest-275-million-fundraising) The Series C was co-led by BullhoundCapital, Triatomic Capital, and Temasek, with follow-on from M12, Nautilus Venture Partners, Industry Ventures, and Mirae Asset.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) By June 2026 CNBC reported total funding of around $500 million, and Purdue's 2026 profile says "nearly $500 million".[3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html) • [2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth)
## Corsair, digital in-memory compute and the technology
A GPU keeps its weights in DRAM (high-bandwidth memory) and computes in separate logic, so every layer means moving data across the memory bus. d-Matrix fuses compute and memory so that matrix multiplications occur inside the memory array itself.[9](https://www.techcircle.in/2026/03/11/lower-inference-costs-could-dramatically-expand-enterprise-ai-adoption-d-matrix-ceo) Sheth said Corsair achieves low-latency inference on low power through this tight integration, and called it the densest SRAM solution on the market, with up to 128 GB of SRAM per server rack.[3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html)
Corsair is a PCIe card containing two ASICs, each built from four chiplets on TSMC's 6nm node, for eight chiplets per card.[10](https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/) Co-founder and CTO Sudeep Bhoja presented the architecture at Hot Chips 2025: 2 GB of SRAM per card at 150 TB/s of bandwidth, 2,400 to 9,600 TOPS at effective 8-bit and 4-bit precision, and digital in-memory compute efficiency of 38 TOPS/W, with the SRAM array supporting 64x64 MXINT8 and 64x128 MXINT4 matrix operations.[14](https://www.d-matrix.ai/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/hc2025.dmatrix.SudeepBhoja.v01.pdf) Some SRAM circuits are repurposed to perform vector-matrix multiplications directly, and a card can perform 9,600 trillion calculations per second in MXINT4 format; each chip also carries a RISC-V control core, SIMD cores, and a custom interconnect called DMX Link, backed by up to 256 GB of LPDDR5 capacity memory.[15](https://siliconangle.com/2025/11/12/chip-startup-d-matrix-raises-275m-speed-inference-memory-compute/) • [10](https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/) In a disaggregated datacenter, the company positions GPUs for the compute-intensive prefill phase and Corsair's memory-centric XPU for the decode phase where the model generates tokens.[6](https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601)
The software stack, Aviator, includes an inference engine, a compiler, and an on-device autoregression engine that generates iterative tokens without recompilation or host interaction.[14](https://www.d-matrix.ai/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/hc2025.dmatrix.SudeepBhoja.v01.pdf) d-Matrix's software team (120 engineers) is twice the size of its hardware team (60), building on open-source PyTorch, Triton, MLIR, and OpenBMC.[10](https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/) On performance claims, the company says solutions combining Corsair accelerators, JetStream NICs, and Aviator software can produce up to 30,000 tokens per second at 2 ms per token on a Llama 70B model, and a server of eight 600-W cards can produce 60,000 tokens per second at 1 ms per token on Llama3-8B.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [10](https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/) These are company claims, not independent benchmarks.
## Shipping, partnerships and the Raptor roadmap
Three changes mark the period since late 2023. First, the stealth exit and Series B in 2023 gave way to public presentations, including Corsair's architecture at Hot Chips 2025.[12](https://m12.vc/news/founders-feature-d-matrix/) • [14](https://www.d-matrix.ai/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/hc2025.dmatrix.SudeepBhoja.v01.pdf) Second, after the November 2025 Series C, Corsair entered full production and began shipping in June 2026; Sheth said about 90% of customers are in the United States, with others in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html) The Next Platform characterized June 2026 as when d-Matrix introduced its first inference accelerator platform after seven years of development; its architecture had been public since the Hot Chips 2025 presentation.[6](https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601) • [14](https://www.d-matrix.ai/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/hc2025.dmatrix.SudeepBhoja.v01.pdf) Third, the company built a rack-scale business: in April 2026 it acquired the datacenter business of GigaIO and rolled out SquadRack with Arista, Broadcom, and [Supermicro](https://www.edgepedia.org/supermicro), a reference architecture of up to eight servers per rack with eight Corsair cards each that can run models up to 100 billion parameters entirely in SRAM.[6](https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601) • [15](https://siliconangle.com/2025/11/12/chip-startup-d-matrix-raises-275m-speed-inference-memory-compute/)
A September 2026 partnership makes d-Matrix's XPU platforms available through Nvidia's MGX reference architecture.[6](https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601) At Hot Chips 2026 the company detailed Raptor, its next-generation ASIC: tape-out by the end of 2026 and release in Q4 2027, pairing a TSMC 4nm compute die fused atop a custom DRAM die at a 36-micron face-to-face pitch, claimed to deliver 100 TB/s of bandwidth; an NVL144 rack would hold 144 Raptor XPUs with 7.2 PB/s of aggregate memory bandwidth, and the company demonstrated Z.ai's GLM 5.2 at about 3,000 tokens per second per user and [Moonshot AI](https://www.edgepedia.org/moonshot-ai)'s Kimi K3 at 1,000 tokens per second per user on a Raptor rack.[6](https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601)
## By the numbers
Headcount grew from 200+ people across five sites in January 2025 to 250+ worldwide by November 2025 and 300+ across five global sites by 2026; offices span Santa Clara, Toronto, Sydney, Bangalore, and Belgrade.[12](https://m12.vc/news/founders-feature-d-matrix/) • [1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) Announced funding stands at $450 million, reported as around $500 million by mid-2026, at a $2 billion valuation.[1](https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/) • [3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html) Revenue has been generated since roughly 2023, according to M12 and Purdue, but neither the company nor its investors has disclosed a dollar figure.[12](https://m12.vc/news/founders-feature-d-matrix/) • [2](https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth) A four-chip Corsair card sells for tens of thousands of dollars.[3](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html)
## References
1. d-Matrix Raises $275 Million to Power the Age of AI Inference, https://www.d-matrix.ai/announcements/d-matrix-raises-275-million-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/
2. Sid Sheth, Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/Alums/OECE/2026/sid-sheth
3. Nvidia challenger D-Matrix starts chip production, Microsoft backing, CNBC, June 9, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/nvidia-d-matrix-chip-production-microsoft.html
4. "We're 2-3x Cheaper, 10x Faster Than GPUs", d-Matrix Founder Sid Sheth bets on inference to democratise AI, Fortune India, February 2026, https://www.fortuneindia.com/business-news/were-2-3x-cheaper-10x-faster-than-gpus-d-matrix-founder-sid-sheth-bets-on-inference-to-democratise-ai/130806
5. AI chip startup d-Matrix raises $110 million with backing from Microsoft, Reuters, September 6, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-chip-startup-d-matrix-raises-110-mln-with-backing-microsoft-2023-09-06/
6. Startup d-Matrix Will Pair Its Raptor Memory-Based XPU To Nvidia Rackscale Iron, The Next Platform, September 10, 2026, https://www.nextplatform.com/compute/2026/09/10/startup-d-matrix-will-pair-its-raptor-memory-based-xpu-to-nvidia-rackscale-iron/5295601
7. This Microsoft-backed startup wants to rival Nvidia in AI chips: Meet its Indian-American founders, CNBC TV18, https://www.cnbctv18.com/business/startup/this-microsoft-backed-startup-wants-to-rival-nvidia-in-ai-chips-meet-its-indian-american-founders-ws-l-19922738.htm
8. Indian-born founders of d-Matrix lead the AI inference revolution, The Economic Times, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/indian-born-founders-of-d-matrix-lead-the-ai-inference-revolution/articleshow/128408199.cms
9. Lower inference costs could dramatically expand enterprise AI adoption: d-Matrix CEO, TechCircle, March 11, 2026, https://www.techcircle.in/2026/03/11/lower-inference-costs-could-dramatically-expand-enterprise-ai-adoption-d-matrix-ceo
10. D-Matrix Targets Fast LLM Inference for 'Real World Scenarios', EE Times, https://www.eetimes.com/d-matrix-targets-fast-llm-inference-for-real-world-scenarios/
11. Breaking the Memory Wall in the Age of Inference, The Data Exchange, https://thedataexchange.media/sid-sheth-d-matrix/
12. Founders Feature: d-Matrix, M12 (January 2025), https://m12.vc/news/founders-feature-d-matrix/
13. AI Chipmaker D-Matrix Valued at $2 Billion With Investments From Qatar, Singapore's EDBI, Bloomberg, November 12, 2025, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-12/ai-chipmaker-d-matrix-valued-at-2-billion-in-latest-275-million-fundraising
14. CORSAIR: An In-Memory Computing Chiplet Architecture for Inference-Time Compute Acceleration, Hot Chips 2025 (Sudeep Bhoja), https://www.d-matrix.ai/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/hc2025.dmatrix.SudeepBhoja.v01.pdf
15. Chip startup d-Matrix raises $275M to speed up inference with in-memory compute, SiliconANGLE, November 12, 2025, https://siliconangle.com/2025/11/12/chip-startup-d-matrix-raises-275m-speed-inference-memory-compute/
16. Nvidia And d-Matrix Announce Roadmap For Fast Inference, Forbes, September 10, 2026, https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlfreund/2026/09/10/nvidia-and-d-matrix-announce-collaboration-roadmap-for-fast-inference/
17. AI inference chips: which startup is ahead?, New Market Pitch, https://newmarketpitch.com/blogs/news/ai-chip-inference-startup
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Technology founders and companies › Semiconductors and hardware › United States chips and hardware*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license