Canadian chip startup Tenstorrent has announced that it has closed a $100 million strategic financing up-round led by Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Catalyst Fund.
The round also saw participation from Fidelity Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, Epiq Capital, Maverick Capital, and more, Tenstorrent said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the funding will be used to accelerate the company’s product development, the design and development of artificial intelligence (AI) chiplets, and its machine learning (ML) software roadmap.
It is noted that Tenstorrent sells artificial intelligence (AI) processors and licenses AI and RISC-V IP to customers that want to own and customize their silicon, while both Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung have a strong history of product leadership and enjoy massive success in their respective markets.
“It has been impressive watching Hyundai Motor Group become the third largest automaker in the world through their aggressive adoption of technology including their acquisition of Boston Dynamics, their joint venture with Aptiv, and now their investment in us,” said Jim Keller, Chief Executive Officer of Tenstorrent.
He also noted that Samsung has long been a leader in the electronics industry and they are the ideal partner to co-lead this round.
Tenstorrent is a next-generation computing company that builds computers for AI.
Headquartered in Toronto, with United States offices in Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley, and global offices in Belgrade, Tokyo, and Bangalore, Tenstorrent brings together experts in the field of computer architecture, ASIC design, advanced systems, and neural network compilers.
Other than Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Catalyst Fund, Tenstorrent is also backed by Fidelity Ventures, Eclipse Ventures and Real Ventures, among others.
“Tenstorrent’s high growth potential and high-performance AI semiconductors will help the group secure competitive technologies for future mobilities,
“With this investment, the group expects to develop optimized but differentiated semiconductor technology that will aid future mobilities and strengthen internal capabilities in AI technology development,” said Heung-soo Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Global Strategy Office (GSO) at Hyundai Motor Group.
Hyundai Motor Group is a global enterprise that has created a value chain based on mobility, steel, and construction, as well as logistics, finance, information technology (IT), and service.
With about 250,000 employees worldwide, the group’s mobility brands include Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
“Samsung Catalyst Fund invests in disruptive ideas that we believe can change the world,” said Marco Chisari, Executive Vice President (EVP) of Samsung Electronics, Head of Samsung Semiconductor Innovation Center.
He said that Tenstorrent’s industry-leading technology, executive leadership, and aggressive roadmap motivated the firm to co-lead this funding round.
Samsung Catalyst Fund is Samsung Electronics’ evergreen multi-stage venture capital fund that invests in deep-tech infrastructure and data-enabled platforms.
The fund’s sectors of interest span multiple domains including datacenter and cloud, artificial intelligence, networking and 5G, automotive, sensors, quantum computing and beyond.
Samsung Ventures invests in wearables sleep tech firm Earable Neuroscience