The “Cursor” revolution for software developers has finally arrived for the world of hardware. CraftifAI, a Bengaluru-based R&D startup, has raised $3 million (approx. ₹27.2 crore) in a seed funding round led by Ankur Capital. The round saw participation from a powerhouse lineup of investors, including IvyCap Ventures, Capital-A, Antler, and other strategic backers.
Founded in 2025 by Pratik Sharda and Yashwant Dagar, CraftifAI is tackling one of the most stubborn bottlenecks in the tech world: the complexity of developing software for embedded systems. While modern app development is fast and fluid, building the code that runs a drone, a robot, or a smart camera remains a manual, fragmented, and hardware-locked process until now.
The “Silicon-Agnostic” Vision: CraftifAI Orbit
At the heart of the startup’s offering is a multi-agent GenAI platform that acts as an intelligent bridge between business requirements and physical silicon.
In the traditional world, if a manufacturer switches from one chip (e.g., an ARM-based processor) to another (e.g., a RISC-V chip), the entire software layer often needs to be rewritten. CraftifAI’s silicon-agnostic approach allows engineers to generate hardware-optimized code and deploy AI models across various platforms without being locked into a specific vendor.
Key Technological Pillars:
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Agentic AI Workflows: Unlike standard AI that just answers questions, CraftifAI uses specialized “agents” that reason, plan, and execute complex tasks like driver generation and firmware porting.
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Edge AI Optimization: The platform automates quantization and model optimization, ensuring heavy AI models can run efficiently on low-power devices like drones or industrial sensors.
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Unified Toolchain: It consolidates fragmented tools supporting frameworks like GStreamer, ROS2, and Android—into a single AI-driven lifecycle.
The Founders: Solving Personal Pain Points
The founders bring deep operational experience to the table. Pratik Sharda previously led SmartSpeaker development at PhonePe, where he felt the pain of manual driver development firsthand. Yashwant Dagar faced similar hurdles while building Edge AI applications at AMD and SIMA.ai.
“We’re bringing the same AI-powered productivity revolution that developers love in tools like Cursor to the embedded systems world,” the team notes. This vision has already gained traction; the company has secured pilots with several Indian OEMs in the drone and robotics space and a US-listed semiconductor giant.
Strategic Impact: Scaling Bharat’s AI Infrastructure
The funding comes at a pivotal moment. The number of connected smart devices is expected to grow globally to over 41 billion by 2030. As AI moves from the cloud to the “Edge” (local devices), the demand for faster time-to-market is skyrocketing.
| Metric | Impact of CraftifAI |
| Development Time | Compressed by up to 5x |
| Development Costs | Significantly lower overhead |
| Vendor Dependency | Eliminated via hardware-agnostic code |
Shiva Shanker, Partner at Ankur Capital, noted that the convergence of AI, edge hardware proliferation, and the talent shortage represents a critical inflection point. CraftifAI is positioned at the center of this transformation.
What’s Next?
CraftifAI will use the $3 million to aggressively scale its engineering and go-to-market teams. With Bengaluru as its base, the startup is eyeing a global footprint, aiming to become the default operating layer for the next generation of autonomous systems, from factory robots to surveillance drones.
By: Vanshika Tayal
