ZURICH, Switzerland, Apr 30, 2026 – Mosaic SoC has raised $3.8 million to build perception chips for AR glasses, smartphones, and other energy-constrained devices that need real-time vision without relying on larger application processors or GPUs.
Founderful led the pre-seed round, with participation from Kick Foundation. Mosaic SoC is developing integrated circuits that process visual and positional sensor data so devices can analyze surrounding spaces and objects locally.
The company is focused on devices limited by battery life, heat, size, and compute capacity. Cameras, sensors, always-on computer vision, and persistent AI features require real-time perception, but many devices still rely on application processors or GPUs.
“Spatial intelligence shouldn’t require an application-class processor and a GPU,” said Alfio Di Mauro, CEO and co-founder of Mosaic SoC. “We built Mosaic SoC to deliver real-time perception at a fraction of the energy, so battery-powered devices can understand their environment without compromising form factor.”
Mosaic SoC’s chip provides a baseline layer of spatial intelligence for Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) building AR and mobile hardware. The company also supplies an application layer that ODMs can integrate and build on top of, rather than engineering perception functions from scratch.
The chip is designed to let devices build a local map of surrounding spaces and objects. The company cites functions such as recalling where an item was last seen or generating a floor plan during use.
In smartphones, Mosaic SoC can work as a co-processor for the front camera. It can run always-on tracking and classification so a device can start recording when a specific event occurs or a selected object appears.
Mosaic SoC was founded by Moritz Scherer and Alfio Di Mauro, both PhDs from ETH Zurich with experience in system-on-chip (SoC) architecture. The company sells integrated circuits and has generated revenue in its first year through non-recurring engineering contracts with ODM partners.
As its chips reach the market, Mosaic SoC expects revenue to shift toward product revenue tied to chip sales. The company uses a proprietary multi-core architecture with eight or more cores and compares the design with single- or dual-core ARM-based approaches.
Mosaic SoC says the architecture is designed to increase performance per watt in energy-constrained devices. The company is also developing AI deployment toolchains and compilers for firmware developers, with a longer-term plan to support applications developed and deployed around its silicon.
Antonia Albert, investor at Founderful, added: “The next billion smart devices will see and understand the world around them. Mosaic SoC’s product is the chip that makes that possible at scale. Moritz and Alfio have the architecture, the platform vision, and the team to make it happen. We are proud to back them with Founderful on their journey to define the spatial computing era.”
Source: Mosaic SoC
About Mosaic SoC
Mosaic SoC is a Swiss semiconductor company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company was founded in 2024 and designs integrated circuits for low-power spatial perception. Its work focuses on system-on-chip architecture for embedded computing and edge AI. Mosaic SoC was founded by duo Moritz Scherer and Alfio Di Mauro. The company develops silicon designs, on-chip memory, accelerators and perception software for real-time vision systems. Its software supports SLAM, object detection and neural inference. The company serves device makers, OEMs and industrial developers. Its target markets include AR, VR, robotics, autonomous systems, space, wearables and mobile devices. Mosaic SoC traces its technical base to ETH Zurich chip design research.
About Founderful
Founderful is a venture capital firm based in Zurich, Switzerland. The firm was founded in 2019 and invests in pre-seed technology startups, mainly in Switzerland. It works with founders, university-linked startups and students interested in venture capital. Founderful’s focus areas include startups, venture capital, technology and Swiss early-stage companies. The firm also runs Founderful Campus, a program for Swiss university students that provides training, support and initial startup funding.