Eridu is a deep-tech infrastructure company tackling what it calls the 'network wall' — the growing mismatch between the scale demands of AI data centers and the capabilities of conventional networking and switching technology. As AI clusters grow to tens of thousands of accelerators, the interconnect between chips increasingly limits performance, power efficiency, and reliability. Eridu's thesis is that the network, not just the compute, must be reinvented for the AI era.
The company is rebuilding the network switch from the silicon up, integrating more functions directly onto the chip across silicon, systems, and software. By pulling functionality on-chip and reducing reliance on the least reliable components — the optics — Eridu aims to cut power consumption and cost while improving reliability for both scale-up (within a node) and scale-out (across nodes) AI architectures. The result, it argues, is networking that can finally match the pace of AI compute and algorithms.
Eridu is led by Drew Perkins, a networking pioneer whose career stretches back to the 1980s; he helped create the Point-to-Point Protocol that became part of TCP/IP, and co-founded optical switch company Lightera Networks (sold to Ciena) and later Infinera (IPO'd, then acquired by Nokia for $2.3 billion in 2025). Co-founder Omar Hassen brings deep networking-chip design experience from Broadcom and Marvell. The pairing gives Eridu rare credibility in a domain where few startups can credibly challenge entrenched switch silicon vendors.
The company emerged from stealth in March 2026 with an oversubscribed $200 million Series A and a total of over $230 million raised. Investors include Socratic Partners, renowned venture capitalist John Doerr, Matter Venture Partners, and strategic backers reported to include Kleiner Perkins and TSMC. The scale of the round reflects both the capital intensity of building custom networking silicon and investor conviction that interconnect is a critical bottleneck in the AI buildout.
With first products still ahead, Eridu sits among a wave of 2026 startups attacking the physical layer of AI infrastructure — chips, networking, and power — rather than models or applications. Its success will hinge on delivering switch silicon that meaningfully outperforms incumbents on power, cost, and reliability at hyperscale, a high bar in one of the industry's most demanding markets.