Monday, December 2nd 2024

Tenstorrent Closes $693M+ of Series D Funding Led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners

Santa Clara, CA: Tenstorrent is announcing that it has closed over $693M in its Series D funding round at a pre-money valuation of $2B. Samsung Securities and AFW Partners led the round, which was oversubscribed due to strong demand from investors. Samsung and AFW both have deep relationships with Tenstorrent, and a strong history of investing in pioneering technology companies.

In addition to the leads, many notable investors joined the round including XTX Markets, Corner Capital, MESH, Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, Bezos Expeditions, and more.
"We are excited by the breadth of investors that believe in our vision," said Keith Witek, Chief Operating Officer of Tenstorrent. "If you look at this group, you see a balance of financial investors and strategic investors, as well as some notable individuals that have conviction in our plans for AI. They respect our team, our technology, and our vision. They see the ~$150M in deals closed as a strong signal of commercial traction and opportunity in the market."

Tenstorrent builds and sells computers for artificial intelligence that are built using its Tensix cores. In addition to selling hardware, the open-source software stacks really set Tenstorrent apart from other players in the market. Tenstorrent licenses AI and RISC-V intellectual property to customers that want to own and customize their silicon.

Tenstorrent will use the Series D funding to build out open-source AI software stacks, hire developers, expand its global development and design centers, and build systems and clouds for AI developers.

"Our investors are great, " said Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent. "During the fundraising process I was impressed by how interested our investors were in our open-source approach to software. They realize that the way to win is to get developers on board by giving them all the tools they need to own their own technology. "

"AFW Partners is dedicated to investing in innovative and disruptive technologies that we believe will change the world, with a specific focus on mobility innovation," said Bonil Koo, Managing Director at AFW Partners, who leads the Series D round with Samsung Securities. "Tenstorrent's momentum in the market, its innovative roadmaps filled with cutting edge technology, and open-source software are an unbeatable combination. We are thrilled to participate in their journey and success."

"We find Tenstorrent's open-source driven approach refreshing, especially in the proprietary and often secretive world of AI accelerators," said Joshua Leahy, Chief Technology Officer, XTX Markets. "We're excited to support them as they bring their ambitious roadmap to market."
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2 Comments on Tenstorrent Closes $693M+ of Series D Funding Led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners

#1
Vya Domus
Man, this will be the mother of all tech bubbles.

With all of these fantastical figures being thrown around you'd think this tech sector must be generating billions upon billions in profits, right ? Wrong, I don't think people realize just how little money AI is currently making. OpenAI, the most popular and arguably relevant AI company, claims that they expect to lose 5 billion this year alone while still being funded pretty much exclusively from venture capital.

Despite all the fuss this shit is making no money whatsoever, turns out the biggest issue nobody was expecting is how to monetize this stuff, billions are poured in while nobody has any idea how they're ever going to make this money back, monthly subscriptions aren't going to cut it.

The only companies that are actually making money from all this are the likes of Nvidia or AMD (ironic, right) and a few other relevant hardware manufacturers but this relies on software companies generating the demand. How long can they keep this up, they're hoping that one day all this AI stuff will start paying for itself but that seems less and less likely to be the case.
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#2
seronx
Vya DomusMan, this will be the mother of all tech bubbles.
CPU-side of Tenstorrent will be interesting.
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Dec 2nd, 2024 11:37 EST change timezone

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