SambaNova banks $1B Series F first close at $11B valuation
What's the deal? AI chip company SambaNova Systems has raised $1 billion in the first close of its Series F round, led by General Atlantic, at an $11 billion valuation. The company expects additional investors to join before the round fully closes.
Who else is in? The round drew Seligman VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, T. Rowe Price Associates, Capital GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BlackRock, Vista Equity Partners, the Qatar Investment Authority, Battery Ventures, and others. It follows SambaNova's earlier SN50 rounds and a $350 million Series E in February 2026.
What's the endgame? SambaNova positions itself as an inference platform for the largest models — those with trillions of parameters — claiming it can house such a model in a single rack. It targets three segments: sovereign clouds, neo-clouds, and enterprises running their own deployments.
Where the money goes: The funds will scale the business and strengthen supply chains ahead of expected demand growth. SambaNova's SN40L chip launched in September 2023; the next-generation SN50 begins shipping in the second half of 2026, with SoftBankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → as the first deployment partner.
Why now? As part of the financing, JPMorgan Chase named SambaNova a partner for inference infrastructure, using the SN40L and SN50 in its secure on-premises environments. The company's clients also include Saudi Aramco and Intel.
What's the backstory? SambaNova had been in talks with Intel over a potential acquisition valued at roughly $1.6 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Co-founder and chief executive officer Rodrigo Liang told TechCrunch that investor interest stays active even after rounds close, with many potential partners approaching the company.
The signal: SambaNova says demand from banking and government is reshaping how AI infrastructure gets bought — and that shoring up supply chains will be critical over the next 12 months. The raise underscores investor appetite for challengers to Nvidia's grip on AI compute.
Read more: Mezha.Media
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