Hailo
Hailo is an Israeli edge AI chip company founded in February 2017 by Orr Danon, Avi Baum, Hadar Zeitlin, and Rami Feig.
Profile
Designs low-power AI processor chips for edge devices—phones, cameras, robots, vehicles, and retail systems—that run AI models locally without sending data to the cloud.
Hailo is an Israeli edge AI chip company founded in February 2017 by Orr Danon, Avi Baum, Hadar Zeitlin, and Rami Feig. The company designs specialized AI processors and accelerators for on-device inference, targeting applications from robotics and autonomous vehicles to retail security and industrial automation. Hailo achieved unicorn status in October 2021 with a $1 billion valuation after raising $136 million in Series C funding.
In April 2024, the company closed a $120 million extension round at a $1.2 billion valuation, bringing total funding to $340 million (later reported as $564 million across nine rounds). The company's current product portfolio includes the Hailo-8 series for vision AI, the Hailo-15 family of vision processors launched in 2023, and the Hailo-10H, announced in July 2025 as its second-generation generative AI accelerator with native support for large language models and vision-language models running entirely on-device. The Hailo-10H delivers 40 TOPS of INT4 performance at approximately 2.5 watts, achieving first-token latency under one second on 2B parameter models.
Named customers include ASUS, Husqvarna, Vicon, Evolv, and HP, which selected the Hailo-10H for its retail-focused AI Accelerator M.2 Card for cashierless checkout and loss-prevention applications, launching in August 2025. However, Hailo has faced severe financial pressure in 2025–2026. The company's valuation collapsed by more than half to under $500 million, and in January 2026, Hailo laid off 10% of its workforce while refocusing on robotics and physical AI.
Its largest shareholder, Delek Automotive, recorded a $77 million loss on its stake in 2025 and had to provide a $9 million emergency loan at 1.5% monthly interest. Hailo is pursuing an urgent SPAC merger to go public, with a non-binding memorandum signed in March 2026 indicating a pending IPO at a significantly reduced valuation.
Who buys this
- Robotics manufacturers (autonomous mowers, drones, industrial robots)
- Automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers (ADAS, autonomous driving, cockpit displays)
- Retail and point-of-sale operators (cashierless checkout, loss prevention, inventory analytics)
- Security and surveillance system integrators (smart cameras, threat detection)
- Consumer electronics brands (ASUS, HP, Sharp, Raspberry Pi ecosystem)
Publicly disclosed clients
- ASUS
- Husqvarna
- HP
- Vicon
- Evolv
- Sharp
- Raspberry Pi
Strengths and what to watch
Strengths
- Hailo-10H achieves real generative AI inference on-device at sub-5W power consumption, addressing edge AI bottleneck that NVIDIA Jetson and Qualcomm Snapdragon competitors have not yet matched at comparable cost.
- Deployed across diversified verticals (robotics, automotive, retail, security) with named enterprise wins including HP's retail M.2 card and Husqvarna's autonomous mower line; not vertically siloed.
- Automotive-qualified to AEC-Q100 Grade 2 with target 2026 production; growing embedded presence in next-generation vehicle cockpits and driver monitoring systems.
Watch for
- Valuation halved from $1.2B (April 2024) to under $500M in January 2026; SPAC merger at distressed terms signals investor capital loss and potential post-IPO dilution.
- 10% workforce reduction in January 2026 and strategic pivot from consumer and data-center edge AI toward robotics suggest earlier roadmap misfire or market demand lag; tracking execution on refocused product vision is critical.
- Delek Automotive's $77M loss on stake and 1.5% monthly loan interest (doubling to 3% if liquidity not achieved within one year) indicate runway concerns and shareholder stress; IPO execution risk is high.
Recent moves
- 5mo ago Hailo pursues SPAC merger for IPO at under $500 million valuation; $1.2B peak halved
- 8mo ago Hailo lays off 10% of workforce as it refocuses on robotics and physical AI
- 1y ago HP selects Hailo's Hailo-10H for next-gen AI Accelerator M.2 Card to transform retail and hospitality operations
- 1y ago Hailo announces general availability of Hailo-10H edge AI accelerator with generative AI capabilities
Key Information
- Industry
- Edge AI
- Founded
- 2017
- Employees
- 290
- Country
- Israel
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hailo?
Hailo is an Israeli edge AI chip company founded in 2017 that designs specialized AI processors for on-device inference. Their chips enable phones, cameras, robots, vehicles, and retail systems to run AI models locally without sending data to the cloud.
What is the Hailo-10H?
The Hailo-10H is Hailo's second-generation generative AI accelerator announced in July 2025. It delivers 40 TOPS of INT4 performance at approximately 2.5 watts and achieves first-token latency under one second on 2B parameter models, enabling large language models and vision-language models to run entirely on-device.
Which companies use Hailo chips?
Named customers include ASUS, HP, Husqvarna, Vicon, and Evolv. HP selected the Hailo-10H for its retail-focused AI Accelerator M.2 Card for cashierless checkout and loss-prevention applications launched in August 2025. Hailo chips serve robotics, automotive, retail, security, and consumer electronics sectors globally.
How does Hailo compare to competitors like NVIDIA?
Hailo-10H achieves real generative AI inference on-device at sub-5W power consumption, addressing an edge AI bottleneck that NVIDIA Jetson and Qualcomm Snapdragon have not yet matched at comparable cost. Hailo's automotive processors are AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualified with target 2026 production deployment.
Does Hailo support large language models on edge devices?
Yes. The Hailo-10H, launched in July 2025, provides native support for large language models and vision-language models running entirely on-device. It achieves first-token latency under one second on 2B parameter models at 2.5 watts power consumption, enabling local AI inference without cloud connectivity.
What is Hailo's current financial situation?
Hailo's valuation collapsed from $1.2 billion in April 2024 to under $500 million by January 2026. The company laid off 10% of its workforce, refocusing on robotics and physical AI. Hailo is pursuing a SPAC merger to go public at the significantly reduced valuation with execution risks.
How Hailo compares
Direct head-to-head against 3 competitors. Picked by 7wData.
Hailo
- Positioning
- Designs low-power AI processor chips for edge devices—phones, cameras, robots, vehicles, and retail systems—that run AI models locally without sending data to the cloud.
- Customer segments
- Robotics manufacturers (autonomous mowers, drones, industrial robots)
- Strengths
- Hailo-10H achieves real generative AI inference on-device at sub-5W power consumption, addressing edge AI bottleneck that NVIDIA Jetson and Qualcomm Snapdragon competitors have not yet matched at comparable cost.
- Watch for
- Valuation halved from $1.2B (April 2024) to under $500M in January 2026; SPAC merger at distressed terms signals investor capital loss and potential post-IPO dilution.
- Recent moves
- Hailo announces general availability of Hailo-10H edge AI accelerator with generative AI capabilities
NVIDIA Jetson
- Positioning
- Embedded AI compute platform for robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation with a 2 million developer ecosystem.
- Customer segments
- Robotics OEMs, autonomous vehicle engineers, industrial automation teams, and defense-adjacent integrators evaluating high-performance edge compute modules.
- Strengths
- Isaac robotics simulation framework and CUDA compatibility lock in 2 million developers. Holds roughly 39% of edge AI compute revenue.
- Watch for
- Jetson T4000 draws 40-70W versus sub-3W specialized accelerators, disqualifying it for battery-constrained or thermally restricted deployments.
- Recent moves
- Jetson T4000 on Blackwell architecture announced August 2025, compute module released CES January 2026 at $1,999 per 1,000-unit volume.
Ambarella
- Positioning
- Fabless semiconductor company making vision AI SoCs for security cameras, automotive ADAS, robotics, and high-resolution edge video analytics.
- Customer segments
- Security camera OEMs, automotive Tier-1 suppliers, drone manufacturers, and enterprise video surveillance integrators.
- Strengths
- 45 million edge AI SoCs installed across 370 production customer products, with proven volume manufacturing for multi-imager security and ADAS use cases.
- Watch for
- Three-to-five-year automotive design cycles combined with rising R&D spending compress margins before design wins convert to revenue.
- Recent moves
- CV7 8K edge AI vision SoC launched CES January 2026 on 4nm process, delivering 2.5x AI performance over prior CV5 generation.
Qualcomm
- Positioning
- Mobile and IoT semiconductor company extending edge AI platforms to robotics, automotive, and industrial compute via the Dragonwing processor line.
- Customer segments
- Consumer electronics OEMs, automotive Tier-1 suppliers, IoT device makers, and enterprise robotics hardware builders evaluating full-SoC edge compute.
- Strengths
- Dragonwing IQ10 supports vision-language-action models for humanoid and AMR robotics. Shipped 800 million AI-capable chips in 2025.
- Watch for
- Customers cite fragmented engineering support across mobile, PC, automotive, and IoT divisions, slowing issue resolution for edge robotics deployments.
- Recent moves
- Acquired Arduino in October 2025 to expand developer access to edge AI compute and deepen the embedded software ecosystem.
Sources
- hailo.ai — Company overview, product portfolio, customer applications, software ecosystem
- en.wikipedia.org — Founding team (Orr Danon, Avi Baum, Hadar Zeitlin, Rami Feig), leadership history, funding rounds, product timeline, unicorn status 2021
- www.calcalistech.com — Valuation collapse from $1.2B to under $500M, SPAC merger plans, Delek Automotive $77M loss, $9M emergency loan at 1.5% monthly interest
- hailo.ai — Hailo-10H announcement July 2025, specifications (40 TOPS INT4, 2.5W power, <1s first-token latency), 10,000+ monthly developer community, automotive AEC-Q100 qualification
- hailo.ai — HP AI Accelerator M.2 Card with Hailo-10H for cashierless checkout, loss prevention, inventory optimization; August 2025 launch
- www.bloomberg.com — Series C extension funding April 2024, $120M raised, $1.2B valuation, investor list including OurCrowd, Delek Motors, Poalim Equity
- www.datacenterdynamics.com — Hailo-10 launch context with Series C funding, generative AI accelerator positioning
- www.calcalistech.com — January 2026 layoffs (10% of workforce, ~30 employees), strategic pivot to robotics and physical AI, capital raise expectations
- siliconangle.com — Hailo-10H launch with generative AI support, 4K video analytics, automotive qualification, HP partnership context