Heaptalk, Jakarta — US chip startup Rivos raised over $250 million in a Series A-3 funding round. The funding will enable the company to launch its first silicon product and meet growing customer demand by expanding its manufacturing operations, platform hardware, software engineering, and support functions.
“The rapid changes in LLMs and the merger with the data analytics stack makes it vital that accelerators be easy to program and debug and that data can seamlessly move between CPU and accelerator. Rivos addresses this need through our recompile-not-redesign approach.” said co-founder and CEO of Rivos Puneet Kumar.
As a RISC-V-accelerated platform company, Rivos aims to target data analytics and generative AI markets. The startup offers power-optimized chips combining high-performance server-class RISC-V CPUs and a Data Parallel Accelerator. The integration of CPU and parallel computation sharing a uniform memory across DDR DRAM and HBM is ideal for today’s models and databases that need terabytes of memory.
Several fresh investors joined the round, including Intel Capital, MediaTek, Cambium Capital, CIDC, Capital TEN, and Hotung Venture Group. Existing investors increased their participation, spanning Walden Catalyst, Dell Technologies Capital, Koch Disruptive Technologies, and VentureTech Alliance.
Matrix Capital Management as the largest investor
Matrix Capital Management, the largest investor in this round, has joined the Board, represented by Romit Shah. Kumar uttered, “I’m grateful for Matrix’s vote of confidence in this approach and pleased to welcome Romit to the Board.”
Managing General Partner of Matrix Capital Management David Goel conveyed, “Expanding the application of data analytics and large language models to encompass not just traditional data types such as text, images, and video, but also genomic and medical data, unlocks unprecedented opportunities for innovation in research and treatment.”
According to him, Rivos’ team has adeptly integrated the groundbreaking new RISC-V architecture with an inventive accelerator, effectively bringing this vision to life. The prototype chip is a compelling demonstration of their unique capability to leverage the advanced TSMC 3nm process node, which only a few startups have managed to achieve.
“We eagerly anticipate furthering our support for the company’s move into new realms of achievement, marking each milestone with shared enthusiasm and commitment to excellence,” Goel concluded.
