VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 17, 2025--
PowerLattice, the company reimagining power delivery for next-generation AI accelerators, today announced its emergence from stealth with $25 million in Series A funding jointly led by Playground Global and Celesta Capital. The company’s breakthrough power delivery chiplet tightly couples power and compute, reducing total compute power needs by more than 50%, effectively doubling performance. PowerLattice has raised $31 million in funding to date.
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“Power is the defining challenge for AI’s future,” said Peng Zou, Co-Founder, CEO and President of PowerLattice. “Data centers are already starting to hit a power wall and the problem is only going to get worse if we don’t rethink how chips are powered. By bringing power directly into the processor package, we’re delivering the performance and efficiency AI needs to keep scaling beyond today’s limits.”
“AI is not constrained by capital, it’s constrained by power,” said Pat Gelsinger, General Partner, Playground Global. “PowerLattice represents a dramatic breakthrough in the efficiency and scale of power delivery. This is the kind of generational leap Playground backs: technology that doesn’t just advance chips, but reshapes the entire trajectory of computing.”
“PowerLattice is delivering a truly scalable solution to attack the cost-performance, reliability and cooling bottlenecks throttling AI data centers,” said Dr. Steve Fu, Partner, Celesta Capital. “I know exactly how tough this problem is, having previously led power device and system incubation at global semiconductor leaders and watching two decades of attempts fall short of the real potential. It is why we zeroed in on this opportunity in our thesis at Celesta – and why we believe PowerLattice’s solution is the unlock the industry has been waiting for.”
Reimagining Power for AI
AI accelerators and GPUs are pushing past 2 KW per chip, straining data centers that already consume as much energy as mid-size cities. Conventional power delivery forces very high electrical current to travel long, resistive paths before reaching the processor, wasting energy and limiting performance. Without a new approach, data center energy use could triple by 2028, consuming up to 12% of U.S. power supply and creating a barrier for AI to scale.
PowerLattice is breaking through this power wall by delivering power much closer to where compute happens. The company has developed the industry's first power delivery chiplet, bringing power directly into the processor package. Combining proprietary miniaturized on-die magnetic inductors, advanced voltage control circuit innovations, a vertical design and a programmable software layer, PowerLattice’s chiplet tightly couples power and compute, delivering power precisely where and when it’s needed.
Impact and Readiness
PowerLattice’s chiplet integrates easily into existing system-on-a-chip (SOC) product designs, shrinking the overall processor footprint and dramatically shortening the power path. As a result, PowerLattice:
With silicon already in hand and engineering samples in progress for 1 KW+ GPUs, CPUs and accelerators, PowerLattice is delivering the performance, efficiency, and reliability that next generation AI and data center infrastructure demands.
A Founding Team with Decades of Expertise
PowerLattice was founded by Peng Zou, Gang Ren, and Sujith Dermal, who together bring decades of engineering leadership in integrated magnetics, analog IC, power management and system design, with experience at Qualcomm, NUVIA, Intel, and a portfolio of issued and pending patents. Joining the board are Pat Gelsinger, General Partner at Playground Global, and Dr. Steve Fu, Partner at Celesta Capital, underscoring the strategic importance of PowerLattice’s technology to leaders across the semiconductor ecosystem.
About PowerLattice
PowerLattice is reimagining power delivery for next-generation AI accelerators with the industry's first power delivery chiplet. PowerLattice tightly integrates power and compute, delivering power precisely where and when it’s needed to achieve the breakthrough performance, efficiency and reliability that next-generation AI and data center infrastructure demands. The company is backed by Playground Global and Celesta Capital and is headquartered in Vancouver, WA, with additional offices in Chandler, AZ. PowerLattice has raised $31M in funding to date.
About Playground Global
Playground Global is a deep tech venture capital firm with $1.2 billion under management, backing early-stage startups tackling foundational challenges in next-generation compute, automation, energy transition, and engineered biology. Founded in 2015 and based in Palo Alto, Playground partners closely with technical and scientific founders to turn breakthrough ideas into enduring companies. The firm’s portfolio includes PsiQuantum, MosaicML (acquired by Databricks), d-Matrix, Agility Robotics, Ideon, Ultima Genomics, and Strand Therapeutics. Learn more at www.playground.vc.
About Celesta Capital
Celesta Capital is a global deep tech venture firm backing the breakthroughs that will power the next decade of technology advancement, including semiconductors and intelligent systems, next-gen infrastructure software, and bio-convergence. Led by operator-investors with decades of company building experience, Celesta partners early to help founders turn deep tech ideas into generational companies. Founded in 2013, the firm has made more than 100 investments across strategic deep tech corridors in North America, Asia, and the Middle East. Learn more at http://celesta.vc.
PowerLattice founders Gang Ren (Head of Engineering), Dr. Peng Zou (CEO & President), and Sujith Dermal (Head of Systems & Apps) are reimagining power delivery for next-generation AI accelerators with the industry's first power delivery chiplet.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors on Wednesday as airstrikes pounded Tehran and U.S. President Donald Trump again made contradictory statements about whether he was ready to wind down the war or escalate it.
Trump struck a belligerent tone Wednesday in a Truth Social post, demanding that Iran stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway vital to global oil supplies — or the U.S. would bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.” A day earlier, Trump said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz; that was an apparent backtrack from a previous threat to attack Iran's power grid if it didn't open the strait by April 6.
Trump, who is scheduled to give a televised address Wednesday evening, said Tuesday he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon — even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire. The hint of an end in sight has buoyed Wall Street the past two days.
His latest Truth Social post struck a harder line as more American troops move into the region for a possible ground offensive after weeks of airstrikes targeting Iran.
Trump also claimed Wednesday that “Iran's New Regime President” wanted a ceasefire. It wasn't clear to whom the U.S. president was referring since Iran still has the same president. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, called Trump's claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
Speaking earlier to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting. “You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”
Since the war began on Feb. 28, Trump has offered shifting objectives and repeatedly has said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands of additional U.S. troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about the purpose of their deployment.
Just days ago, Trump threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. And there has also been speculation about whether the U.S. could decide to send in military forces to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile — a complex and risky operation, fraught with radiation and chemical dangers, according to experts and former government officials.
Adding to the confusion is what role Israel — which has been bombing Iran alongside the U.S. — might play in any of these scenarios.
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as oil prices have skyrocketed, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other goods. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, is up more than 40% since the start of the war, though it declined slightly on Wednesday and traded at around $101 a barrel.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, including a demand for the strait to be reopened and for its nuclear program to be rolled back.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. And in a report last week by Iranian state TV's English-language broadcaster, an anonymous official was quoted as saying Iran had its own demands to end the fighting, including retaining sovereignty over the strait.
In the interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
He warned against any U.S. attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”
In a deal ostensibly to give diplomacy a chance, U.S. officials have given “clear assurances” that Araghchi and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf won't be targeted, according to three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media Wednesday a letter addressing U.S. citizens, saying that before the war, his country had pursued negotiations, but that the U.S. chose to withdraw from that path. “Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war? Was there any objective threat from Iran to justify such behavior?” Pezeshkian asked in the letter posted in English on his X account.
A cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. The crew was evacuated and no casualties were reported. A Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when he was hit by debris from an intercepted drone in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.
In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a large fire.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted a ballistic missile and two drones fired from Iran in the last 24 hours. No casualties were reported. Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia.
In Israel, sirens sounded to warn of incoming missiles and AP reporters heard loud booms in Tel Aviv as the windows of buildings shook from the reverberations. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
An airstrike on Tehran appeared to have hit the former U.S. Embassy compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since American diplomats were held hostage there in 1979. Witnesses said buildings outside the massive compound had their windows blown out.
In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
A young girl is comforted by her father and Israeli soldiers as they take cover in a bomb shelter during air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People inspect the site of an Israeli strike amid debris and damaged vehicles in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man feeds stray cats in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A police vehicle is seen through a shattered windshield at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Two men ride scooters past charred debris at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
