AI chip maker SambaNova raises $1B at $11B valuation, 5 months after last mega round
AI chip maker SambaNova has raised at an $11B valuation months after Intel was rumored to be trying to buy it for about $1. AI chip company SambaNova Systems has raised $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation led by General Atlantic, in a first close of its Series F round, with more investors expected to join soon. "In the next few weeks, a few more investors will be coming in, and the second close is likely to finish up," Rodrigo Liang, CEO and co-founder of SambaNova, told TechCrunch.
Key Takeaways
- The latest round comes roughly five months after the Palo Alto, California-based startup company unveiled its SN50 chip , alongside a $350 million Series E in February .
SambaNova had also been in acquisition talks with Intel, a deal valuing it at roughly $1.
- " SambaNova's ties to Intel , a backer since its Series C and a participant in this latest round, have deepened.
Five months ago, the nine-year-old startup announced a multi-year partnership with Intel to support AI inference development based on Intel's Xeon chip.
- These banks want heterogeneous [infrastructure].
" Liang said the JPMorgan win was a signal to the broader market.
- Today's frontier models span trillions of parameters, and he said SambaNova was built specifically to handle them at that scale.
The company fits multi-trillion-parameter models onto a single rack which helps them run quickly.
- "We're using that capital to secure the supply chain," he said, describing it as essential to fulfilling orders and buying the materials the company needs to deliver over the next 12 months.
Stats & Key Facts
- #AI chip maker SambaNova has raised at an $11B valuation months after Intel was rumored to be trying to buy it for about $1.
- #AI chip maker SambaNova has raised at an $11B valuation months after Intel was rumored to be trying to buy it for about $1.
- #AI chip company SambaNova Systems has raised $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation led by General Atlantic, in a first close of its Series F round, with more investors expected to join soon.
- #The latest round comes roughly five months after the Palo Alto, California-based startup company unveiled its SN50 chip , alongside a $350 million Series E in February .
The latest round comes roughly five months after the Palo Alto, California-based startup company unveiled its SN50 chip , alongside a $350 million Series E in February . SambaNova had also been in acquisition talks with Intel, a deal valuing it at roughly $1. 6 billion, according to a December report from Bloomberg News .
Asked whether closing its Series E and F rounds meant SambaNova, founded in 2017, had settled on staying independent, Liang was noncommittal. He said the company keeps fielding interest. "We're always being approached.
" The door is open to such an exit in this dynamic AI market, the CEO said, but momentum and growth will most likely drive the company toward "being public at some point. " SambaNova's ties to Intel , a backer since its Series C and a participant in this latest round, have deepened. Five months ago, the nine-year-old startup announced a multi-year partnership with Intel to support AI inference development based on Intel's Xeon chip.
For more details please read the original article at TechCrunch AI.
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