Graphcore, the US-based intelligent processor producer backed by corporate investors Microsoft, Samsung, BMW, Robert Bosch and Dell, raised $222m in series E funding yesterday at a $2.77bn post-money valuation.
The round was led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and also featured funds managed by investment and financial services group Fidelity and asset manager Schroders, in addition to existing backers including Baillie Gifford and Draper Esprit.
Spun off by semiconductor technology producer Xmos in 2016, Graphcore has developed a microprocessor called the Intelligence Processing Unit which is designed for use with next-generation artificial intelligence workloads. It said it has now secured $710m in funding to date.
The company closed its series D round at $350m in February this year when Baillie Gifford, M&G Investments, Merian Chrysalis, Mayfair Equity Partners and undisclosed existing investors supplied $150m in a second tranche valuing it at $1.95bn.
The round’s first close included software provider Microsoft, electronics producer Samsung and BMW i Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC) and Dell Technologies Capital, which invested on behalf of carmaker BMW, industrial technology group Bosch and computing technology manufacturer Dell.
Atomico, Merian Chrysalis, Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Amadeus Capital Partners, C4 Ventures, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango and Ahren Innovation Capital rounded off the series D participants.
Sequoia Capital led a $50m series C round for the company in December 2017 backed by RBVC, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Dell Technologies Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, C4 Ventures, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital and Pitango Venture Capital.
All the series C investors bar Sequoia had supplied $30m in series B funding for Graphcore five months earlier, following a $30m series A led by RBVC and backed by Samsung Catalyst Fund, Amadeus Capital Partners, C4 Ventures, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital and Pitango Venture Capital in 2016.
Nigel Toon, co-founder and CEO of Graphcore, said: “Having the backing of such respected institutional investors says something very powerful about how the markets now view Graphcore. The confidence that they have in us comes from the competence we have demonstrated building our products and our business.
“We have created a technology that dramatically outperforms legacy processors such as [graphics processing units], a powerful set of software tools that are tailored to the needs of AI developers and a global sales operation that is bringing our products to market.”
