US-based artificial intelligence system developer SambaNova Systems received $250m in series C funding yesterday from investors including subsidiaries of internet technology group Alphabet and semiconductor and data technology provider Intel.
The round was led by funds and accounts managed by investment firm BlackRock, and included Intel Capital and Alphabet unit GV in addition to venture capital firms Walden International, WRVI Capital and Redline Capital.
SambaNova was formed to bring cutting-edge AI technology to products that can be utilised by a wider range of organisations. Its lead product is an optimisable platform that combines hardware and software to run compute and data-intensive applications across a range of systems.
The company’s co-founders include two Stanford University professors: Kunle Olukotun, who heads the university’s Hydra Chip Multiprocessor research project, and Christopher Ré, an associate professor in Stanford’s department of computer science.
Proceeds from the series C round will be used to beef up the core capabilities of SambaNova’s platform and potentially expand its usage into new markets.
Intel Capital led the company’s $150m series B round in April 2019, investing together with GV, Walden International, Redline Capital and growth equity firm Atlantic Bridge Ventures.
GV and Walden International co-led a $56m series A round that was disclosed when SambaNova emerged from stealth in early 2018, with Redline Capital and Atlantic Bridge Ventures also participating.
The company’s website also names consumer electronics producer Samsung’s Catalyst Fund, memory and data storage system provider Micron Technology and telecommunications firm SK Telecom as investors.
Rodrigo Liang, SambaNova’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “Raising $250m in this funding round with support from new and existing investors puts us in a unique category of capitalisation. This enables us to further extend our market leadership in enterprise computing.”
