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(Bloomberg) — FuriosaAI Inc., the Seoul-based semiconductor startup seeking to challenge Nvidia Corp., secured $125 million in a financing round to accelerate production of its artificial intelligence chip.
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The round exceeded its target of about $80 million and drew investors including the Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Keistone Partners and Kakao Investment, the company said in a statement. FuriosaAI’s latest valuation stands at $735 million.
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FuriosaAI plans to use the fresh capital to fund the production ramp-up of its AI inferencing chip, RNGD — pronounced “renegade” — at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s facilities by the end of this year, Chief Executive Officer June Paik said in an interview. The startup also plans to begin development of its next-generation chip.
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The funding comes at a significant period for the eight-year-old startup. Earlier this month, FuriosaAI secured a major contract with LG Group. In March, it turned down an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta Platforms Inc., opting to keep building the business instead, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
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Paik said FuriosaAI is on a mission to make AI computing “cheaper, more energy efficient and accessible,” and pointed out that even OpenAI is unable to make a profit due to huge infrastructure costs.
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While the company is dwarfed by Nvidia, which has a market value of $4.2 trillion and is the industry standard for AI chips, Paik said he’s confident in FuriosaAI’s ability to compete because of its more advanced, efficient technology. “Our company will show its true value in the future,” he said.
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Paik co-founded FuriosaAI in 2017 with two partners after working at Samsung Electronics Co. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The trio initially named the company “Furiosa” after watching the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road.
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Paik said he resonated with the movie’s themes of survival, the quest for a “green place,” and the pursuit of collective purpose in a broken world. After considering more traditional names, “Furiosa just stuck with us.”
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