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."
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."
9 Comments on Tenstorrent Closes $693M+ of Series D Funding Led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners
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.
I mean - you have to be impressed by how far AI image and video generation has come in the last year alone.
There is a possibility that AI could replace every single piece of software in the future - just like how smart phones replaced nearly every other piece of consumer electronics. You wouldn't buy TurboTax, instead you'd just upload all your tax info to your AI assistant. Nobody needs to buy Photoshop anymore, just ask AI to edit your photos.
That being said - yeah Im still not sure how they'd capitalize on it. Maybe a monthly subscription charge for super AI. I'm not a huge AI believer either though, even tho I do use it 50x a day at work.
Here we're talking about an entire tech sector that's struggling to monetize their products from the get go.
At this point in time we really need "revolutions" to stop wealth accumulation at the top :shadedshu:
Probably why the investments are flowing in.