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AI Chipmaker d-Matrix Raises $110M in Series B Funding Round
d-Matrix, a rising star in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip industry, has successfully secured a significant $110 million in a series B funding round, with substantial support from heavyweight investors, including tech giant Microsoft Corp. This latest funding achievement comes at a time when many chip companies are grappling with challenges in securing investments.
According to a Reuters report on August 6, the funding round, led by Singapore-based Temasek, with participation from Palo Alto and Playground Global, a US-based investment company, underscores the company’s growing prominence in the competitive AI chip market. Last year, Playground also invested in the company’s series A funding round in April.
At the time, the Silicon Valley-based AI startup had managed to raise $44 million, a crucial milestone that allowed the company to develop its product roadmap and expand its team across the United States, Australia, and India. d-Matrix boasted a team of about 50 employees, with 30% of the workforce holding PhDs, representing a diverse mix of operational and technical expertise.
d-Matrix Teams Up with Microsoft
The company has now closed its series B funding round with backing from Microsoft. The two companies began working together last year. d-Matrix and Microsoft revealed in a joint press release that Microsoft’s Project Bonsai platform would be supported by d-Matrix’s digital in-memory computing (DIMC) technology. This collaboration promised to accelerate AI inference significantly, marking a considerable stride in the AI industry.
While the exact valuation of d-Matrix post-funding remains undisclosed, this is consistent with the company’s approach from the previous year, where the company also chose not to disclose its valuation.
Sid Sheth, the founder and CEO of d-Matrix, expressed his enthusiasm for the latest fundraising, emphasizing the importance of having investors well-versed in the complexities of the semiconductor business.
“This is capital that understands what it takes to build a semiconductor business. They’ve done it in the past. This is capital that can stay with us for the long term.”
d-Matrix Plans to Generate $75M in Revenue in 2025
d-Matrix’s innovative chip designs have been gaining recognition, particularly for their effectiveness in powering generative AI applications like ChatGPT. What sets the company apart from its competitors, notably Nvidia, is its unwavering focus on enhancing the “inference” aspect of AI processing rather than concentrating on training large AI models. This strategic decision pays dividends, thanks to the utilization of digital “in-memory compute” technology, which significantly bolsters AI code execution efficiency while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.
Furthermore, Microsoft’s involvement adds a stamp of approval to the startup’s technology, as the tech giant has committed to evaluating d-Matrix’s chips for its own purposes upon their market release next year.
d-Matrix projects revenue of under $10 million for the current fiscal year, primarily derived from chip evaluations by prospective customers. However, the company has set ambitious goals to generate an impressive $70 million to $75 million in annual revenue within the next two years, with the ultimate goal of breaking even. This forward-thinking approach aligns seamlessly with d-Matrix’s commitment to delivering innovative and efficient AI chip solutions, promising a bright future for the company and the AI industry.
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AI Chipmaker d-Matrix Raises $110M in Series B Funding Round