Etched is in early talks for funding at up to a $50 billion valuation
The AI chip startup’s latest fundraising would more than double its September valuation if it closes.
Etched is said to be in early discussions on new financing that could value the AI chip startup at $40 billion to $50 billion, a sharp jump from its $21 billion mark just months ago. The company raised $700 million in September after a $300 million round in July, and it had already said in July that it had secured $1 billion in customer orders. Etched is building full AI hardware systems around proprietary chips and says those chips are faster and cheaper for token processing than Nvidia’s. Its backers include Jane Street, which led the last round and is also a customer, and the company says it has already moved manufacturing test chips through TSMC.
Why it matters
A deal at this level would mark a sharp reset for Etched after two recent rounds and a large customer order book. That matters to customers and competitors because it signals stronger demand for its hardware approach and raises the stakes around its claim to do token processing faster and at lower cost than Nvidia’s.
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Sources
- TechCrunch