AI NewsWaveFuriosaAI Raises 820 Billion Won in Series D at 3.8 Trillion Won Valuation
Key points
- FuriosaAI raises 820 billion won in Series D
- Post-investment valuation of about 3.8 trillion won
- Speeding up commercialization of second-generation accelerator RNGD
FuriosaAI, a Korean AI chip company, announced on the 29th that it has completed a Series D round totaling 820 billion won. The post-investment valuation was assessed at about 3.8 trillion won. AI Times reported the news together with the name of CEO June Paik (백준호) and described it as one of the largest investments in the history of Korean startups, while Digital Today called it the largest among Korean AI chip startups.
The amount raised exceeded the original target. Digital Today and EBN reported that the round began in January this year with a target of 450 billion to 750 billion won, and Techworld News said the original target was 450 billion to 750 billion won. TheElec (디일렉) explained that strong domestic and overseas investor demand led the company to raise the target to 820 billion won. TheElec and EBN said the investment was made on a pre-money valuation of 3 trillion won.
Outlets described the investor mix differently. AI Times reported that the National Growth Fund invested 370 billion won. Digital Daily wrote that many domestic and overseas investors took part, including the National Growth Fund. IT Chosun reported that Naver and Kakao made follow-on investments and that a government-led fund also took part.
Product commercialization and next-generation development were cited as uses of the funds. Digital Daily reported that the company plans to speed up global commercialization of its second-generation AI accelerator RNGD and the development of next-generation products, and IT Chosun reported that the money will go to mass production of AI accelerators and development of next-generation chips.
FuriosaAI's activity has continued recently. According to AI Times, North Gyeongsang Province signed a memorandum of understanding on the 26th at FuriosaAI's headquarters in Seoul with Gyeongsan City, FuriosaAI, the Gyeongbuk Institute for IT Convergence Industry Technology and others on AI chip pilots and building an industrial ecosystem. The agreement aims at field pilots of domestic AI chips in industry and building a regional AI industry ecosystem. TechM reported that on the 22nd Jung Young-bum (정영범), a managing director at FuriosaAI, explained in a technical session at the Industrial AI Manufacturing Innovation Conference at KINTEX why companies should choose domestic AI chips (NPUs) instead of Nvidia GPUs.
Glossary A fabless company designs semiconductors without manufacturing them itself, and an NPU is a processor specialized for AI computation.