Artificial intelligence chip startup d-Matrix on Wednesday raised $110 million in a Series B funding round. This investment came at a time when many chip companies were struggling to raise cash. Nvidia’s dominant position in the AI chip market due to a powerful combination of hardware and software has scared off potential investors in some startups. As a vendor specializing in generative AI computing for data centers, d-Matrix plans to use the funding to commercialize its digital-in-memory compute, chipset-based inference compute platform Corsair, according to the company.
The Series B funding round was led by the Singapore-based Temasek and included the Palo Alto, California venture firm Playground Global and Microsoft. “This is capital that understands what it takes to build a semiconductor business,” CEO Sid Sheth told Reuters. “They’ve done it in the past. This is capital that can stay with us for the long term.”
About a year ago, the Santa Clara-based company initiated its fundraising efforts, according to Sheth. While the company did not disclose its current valuation, it has previously secured $44 million in funding.
D-Matrix specializes in designing chips tailored for enhancing generative AI applications like ChatGPT. Their chip designs incorporate digital “in-memory compute,” optimizing the efficiency of AI code execution. This innovative chip technology not only conserves energy but also accelerates the processing of data needed for generative AI responses, making it ideal for such tasks.
What sets D-Matrix apart from Nvidia is its focus on the “inference” phase of AI processing. D-Matrix does not compete with Nvidia in developing technology for training large AI models.
“We have solved the computer architecture,” Playground partner Sasha Ostojic said. “We have solved the low power requirements and the needs of a data center – (we) built a software stack to deliver the lowest latency in the industry by orders of magnitude.”
Microsoft has committed to evaluating the chip for its use when it launches next year, Sheth told Reuters.
D-Matrix projects that it will receive under $10 million in revenue this year – largely from customers purchasing chips to evaluate. The business expects to generate more than $70 million to $75 million in annual revenue in two years, and break even, Sheth said.