FuriosaAI raises $620M Series D, quadruples valuation to $2.9B in Nvidia challenge
What's the deal? South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI has raised $620 million in a Series D round, lifting its valuation to $2.9 billion — roughly four times its previous $735 million mark. US-based Infinitum PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led a roster that included Jericho CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Worldline Capital, Singapore's QUDA Capital, and Abu Dhabi's NeoFort Holding.
Who else backed it? South Korea's National Growth Fund contributed $280 million and international investors added $110 million. Existing shareholders NaverDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Korea Development BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, DSC InvestmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, NextransDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Kakao InvestmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also joined, while the Export-Import Bank of KoreaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → made its first direct investment in a startup.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2017, FuriosaAI designs neural processing units built solely for AI inference. It began mass production of its RNGD chip in January 2026 and is working with Broadcom on a third-generation accelerator.
Why now? Investors are hunting for energy-efficient alternatives to Nvidia chips that dominate AI data centers, with that shift centred on inference. FuriosaAI has named Samsung SDSDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and LG AI ResearchDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → among its customers and partners, giving it a more concrete track record than many chip startups.
By the numbers: The round ranks as the largest Series D ever raised by a South Korean semiconductor company, topping a sample of 68 such deals. TSMC will produce 20,000 RNGD chips this year, rising to more than 40,000 in 2027.
What could go wrong? The Broadcom chip is not expected to sample until 2028, so execution and customer adoption remain key tests. The company earlier declined an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta in 2025, betting on independent growth at a far higher price.
The signal: The sharp repricing shows investors are willing to fund credible challengers to Nvidia — though the headline scale alone does not prove FuriosaAI can compete at data-centre scale.
Read more: news.bloomberglaw.com
Image credit: Gijs Peijs
