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Physical AI startup SwitchOn has raised $8 Mn (about ₹ 77 Cr) in a pre-Series B funding round led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from SIG Tattva and Trifecta Capital.

The funding round comprised a mix of equity and debt. However, the startup declined to provide a breakdown. 

The Bengaluru-based startup said it will use the fresh capital to accelerate international expansion, deepen research and development in next-generation physical AI, and scale its go-to-market capabilities across manufacturing verticals globally. 

Founded in 2017 by Aniruddha Banerjee and Avra Banerjee, SwitchOn builds AI-powered visual inspection systems that help manufacturers automatically detect defective products on production lines using computer vision. The startup serves industries such as FMCG, electronics, automotive and pharmaceuticals. 

Its flagship platform DeepInspect uses edge-native computer vision to detect surface defects with sub-150-micron precision at speeds of more than 1,200 products per minute, SwitchOn said. It claimed the platform can reduce quality-related costs for manufacturers by as much as 50%.

The startup said its technology has been deployed across more than 170 production lines in over 60 manufacturing facilities spanning four continents. Its customers include Unilever, Bosch, Maruti Suzuki, and ALPA. 

Prior to this, SwitchOn raised $4.2 Mn in its Series A round in 2023 from Axilor Ventures and pi Ventures. Including the latest round, the startup has raised about $13.3 Mn to date.

The funding comes as manufacturers increasingly deploy AI-powered vision systems to automate quality inspection, improve production efficiency and reduce defects on factory floors. The shift is driving investor interest in physical AI startups that combine AI with cameras, sensors and industrial equipment to automate real-world manufacturing processes. 

Earlier this month, robotics startup Mowito raised $3 Mn in a pre-seed funding round to build AI models that train industrial robots by observing human operators. The deeptech startup said its robots are already deployed at a Fortune 500 automotive company and one of the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturers. 

Similarly, Y Combinator-backed startup  Human Archive bagged $8.2 Mn to build what it describes as the largest human sensorimotor dataset of its kind. These datasets are used to train robotics and manufacturing AI systems.

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