UK-based machine intelligence technology developer Graphcore raised $150m today to lift a series D round already backed by corporates BMW, Robert Bosch, Microsoft, Samsung and Dell to $350m.
The capital was supplied by investment management firms Baillie Gifford, M&G Investments and Merian Chrysalis, private equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners and unnamed existing backers, increasing the the company’s valuation from $1.7bn to $1.95bn in the process.
Founded in 2016 when it was spun off from semiconductor technology producer Xmos, Graphcore has developed a processor called the intelligence processing unit which is specifically designed for artificial intelligence. It has also built a software platform, Poplar, to facilitate machine learning applications.
Graphcore received the first initial $200m in 2018, from investors including BMW i Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC) and Dell Technologies Capital, representing carmaker BMW, industrial technology group Bosch and computing equipment maker Dell respectively.
Software producer Microsoft and electronics manufacturer Samsung also took part in the first close, which was led by Atomico and backed by Merian Chrysalis, Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Amadeus Capital Partners, C4 Ventures, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango and Ahren Innovation Capital, whose involvement was revealed in May 2019.
The company, which noted it now held more than $300m in cash reserves, will use the capital to drive research and development efforts and global expansion plans. It has raised $460m in funding to date.
RBVC led a $30m series A round for Graphcore in 2016, investing together with Samsung’s Catalyst Fund, Pitango, Foundation Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, Draper Esprit and C4 Ventures.
The company secured $30m in a July 2017 series B round featuring Dell Technologies Capital, RBVC, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Atomico, Amadeus Capital Partners, C4 Ventures, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital and Pitango. They all returned for its $50m series C, which was led by Sequoia Capital five months later.
