Dutch-listed firm NXP to buy AI edge chipmaker Kinara for $307M, giving exits to Tiger Global, Exfinity Venture

NXP Semiconductors, a Dutch semiconductor company, has agreed to acquire Kinara, a maker of AI-based edge processors, for $307 million in cash, providing an exit for investors such as Tiger Global Management and Exfinity Venture Partners.

Kinara provides ultra-low-power, programmable AI silicon chips for high-performance edge applications in retail, smart cities, Industry 4.0, and automotive. 

Its neural processing units (NPUs) and software enablement provide energy-efficient AI performance across various neural networks, including conventional and GenAI.

NXP states that the acquisition will enhance its ability to offer complete and scalable AI platforms, by adding discrete NPUs and advanced AI software to its portfolio of processors, connectivity, security, and analog solutions.

“This solidifies our vision that the groundbreaking work we have done in multimodal and generative AI will be highly transformative, especially when coupled with NXP’s technology and products,” said Ravi Annavajjhala, chief executive officer of Kinara, Inc.

Kinara, a US-registered company with a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hyderabad, has 90% of its team based in India and the remaining 10% in the US.

Speaking about Kinara’s team, the CEO said, “Our engineering team is going to become a part of the NXP engineering team, and the plans for the executive team are being discussed and we should have visibility into that in the next 30 to 60 days.”

The Kinara chief added that he plans to join NXP and support both the integration and growth.

The startup raised nearly $60 million through two major funding rounds, Series A and Series B, along with some subsequent integrated rounds. In 2021, Kinara secured $35 million in its Series B round, led by Tiger Global, with participation from Series A investors like Exfinity Venture. 

The Bengaluru-based venture capital firm had invested approximately $3 million in Kinara (erstwhile Deep Vision) through its second fund, Exfinity Technology Fund-Series II, which focuses on AI, cloud computing, big data analytics, cybersecurity, and the Internet of Things.

Chinnu Senthilkumar, managing partner at Exfinity Venture believes this is a validation for India’s deep tech ecosystem. “Companies like NXP acquiring Kinara—where both the chip and software were developed over seven years, as Ravi explained—demonstrates the strength of this ecosystem. I foresee many more such opportunities in the future,” he added.

Exfinity Venture has a portfolio of 42 companies, with 15 funded through its second fund.

“We are very happy with the exit. With this, we should cross a DPI of 1 because we made partial exits in our Fund II. We have about six to seven companies doing very well in our Fund II. We should retain the principal. After this, within the next two to three months, we will start returning the profit,” Senthilkumar noted.

Distributions to paid-in capital (DPI) measures how much money has been returned to investors compared to what they originally invested. A DPI of 1 means they have returned 100% of the invested capital to their investors.

NXP’s acquisition of Kinara is expected to close in the first half of 2025, pending customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

While awaiting regulatory approval, Kinara will work on integrating its products, platforms, team, and infrastructure with NXP, noted Annavajjhala. The plan is to merge with NXP, meaning Kinara will no longer exist as a separate brand at some point in the future.

(The article was updated to fix a typo.)