• UAE-based fabless semiconductor startup Mastiska has raised $10 million in a seed round backed mainly by GCC sovereign wealth funds to build data-centre-class inference accelerators.
• Founded in 2024 by Suresh Sugumar, Mastiska develops sovereign AI hardware with model-creation teams in Abu Dhabi and VLSI engineering in India, offering customers full audit access for cybersecurity assurance.
• With the new funding, the company plans to build UAE-based sovereign silicon using open-source technologies, launch commercial FPGA cards, and target sovereign customers across the GCC, South Asia, BRICS, and the Global South.

Press release:

UAE-based Mastiska raises $10 million seed round to build sovereign AI chips and data-center-class inference accelerators

UAE-based Mastiska has raised $10 million in a seed funding round, backed primarily by sovereign wealth funds in the GCC. The funding will support the development of data-centre-class inference accelerators and the establishment of a UAE-based fabless semiconductor company built on open-source technologies.

With the new capital, Mastiska aims to advance its technology stack and build sovereign AI hardware tailored to markets seeking independence from U.S. and Chinese suppliers. The company is founded on the belief that sovereign AI begins with sovereign silicon — a principle driving its plan to develop AI chips through a model-creation team in Abu Dhabi and a VLSI design team in India. The startup also intends to give sovereign customers full access to audit chip designs for cybersecurity assurance.

Mastiska’s target markets include the UAE, the wider GCC, Southeast Asia, BRICS nations, and the Global South — regions looking to build strategic autonomy in AI infrastructure. As such, the company does not plan to compete directly in the U.S.–China AI chip race.

Its first commercial product will be custom FPGA cards loaded with Mastiska’s proprietary IP, designed not as prototypes but as deployable accelerators for AI inference workloads. In parallel, Mastiska’s model team is developing brain-inspired architectures, including modified transformers that enhance performance and energy efficiency.

Founded in 2024 by Suresh Sugumar, Mastiska is a fabless semiconductor startup focused on sovereign AI hardware, building data-center-grade inference accelerators and next-generation AI chips for global markets across the GCC, South Asia, and the Global South.

In short, Mastiska is building sovereign AI silicon to reduce dependency on foreign chip ecosystems and serve countries seeking technological independence in the AI era.