IT Home, October 29: According to Bloomberg's report on the 28th, South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI has completed a new funding round, raising its valuation to $2.9 billion (IT Home note: approximately RMB 19.374 billion at current exchange rates), nearly quadrupling its previous valuation and strengthening its position to challenge industry giants like NVIDIA.
FuriosaAI announced a $620 million Series D funding round (approximately RMB 4.142 billion at current exchange rates), with investors including U.S.-based Infinitum Partners. The Korean National Growth Fund invested $280 million (approximately RMB 1.871 billion at current exchange rates), while overseas investors collectively contributed $110 million (approximately RMB 735 million at current exchange rates). Other participants in the funding round include Jericho Capital, Worldline Capital, Singapore’s QUDA Capital, and Abu Dhabi’s NeoFort Holding.
NVIDIA chips dominate the AI data center market, while investors are seeking more energy-efficient alternatives, with a focus on AI inference. As growing AI demand drives up electricity consumption, reducing inference costs has become one of the key focuses of industry competition.
FuriosaAI, founded in 2017, began mass production of its RNGD chip in January this year, with the name pronounced like the English word "Renegade." The company is also collaborating with Broadcom to develop a third-generation AI accelerator for large-scale AI infrastructure. FuriosaAI aims to increase its market share in NVIDIA’s dominant domain by reducing power-intensive data transfers during chip operation. At its last funding round last year, the company was valued at $735 million (approximately RMB 4.91 billion at current exchange rates).
FuriosaAI stated that TSMC is producing 20,000 RNGD accelerators for it this year, with plans to increase production to over 40,000 by 2027. Samsung SDS, LG Group, and South Korean AI startup Upstage have all adopted the RNGD chip.