SambaNova Systems, a startup that builds custom chips, integrated hardware systems and cloud services designed specifically for AI inference, announced a $1 billion late-stage funding round that sets its post-money valuation at $11 billion. General Atlantic led the Series F financing on Wednesday.
The company said the proceeds will be used to expand capacity, scale deployments worldwide and continue development across its stack - from chips to systems to software - aimed at customers running inference workloads, the stage in which AI models generate responses to user queries.
Investor participation and composition
Participants in the Series F included significant investments from Seligman Ventures, T. Rowe Price Associates and Capital Group. SambaNova also listed a mix of new and existing backers among the investors, naming A&E Investment, Assam Ventures, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Intel Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority.
Customer deployments and partnerships
As part of its commercial traction, SambaNova said that JPMorgan Chase has selected the company as an inference infrastructure partner and will deploy its SN40 and SN50 systems for AI inference workloads.
Earlier this year, in February, SambaNova raised $350 million to fund expansion of its SN50 AI chip and announced a partnership with Intel to deliver lower-cost inference solutions for companies that are AI-native. That collaboration included a $35 million investment from Intel.
In May, SambaNova received U.S. antitrust clearance related to that Intel investment after acquisition discussions between the two companies did not advance. In April, a review of corporate records indicated Intel had planned to invest an additional $15 million, an amount that would have increased Intel’s ownership in SambaNova to 9 percent.
SambaNova did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the current size of Intel’s stake or whether Intel contributed to the Series F round.
Funding history and valuation trajectory
The latest capital infusion follows a prior large financing in April 2021, when the company raised $676 million in a round led by SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 2 that valued SambaNova at more than $5 billion. The new round pushes the company’s valuation to $11 billion post-money.
Summary
SambaNova raised $1 billion in a late-stage Series F round led by General Atlantic at an $11 billion post-money valuation. The startup, which provides chips, systems and cloud services optimized for AI inference, plans to use the funds to increase capacity, expand global deployments and invest across its full-stack AI infrastructure. The round saw participation from institutional investors and existing backers, and SambaNova announced a deployment relationship with JPMorgan Chase for its SN40 and SN50 inference systems.
Key points
- SambaNova secured $1 billion in Series F funding led by General Atlantic, valuing the company at $11 billion post-money.
- The financing included significant commitments from Seligman Ventures, T. Rowe Price Associates and Capital Group, with additional participation from A&E Investment, Assam Ventures, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Intel Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority.
- JPMorgan Chase selected SambaNova as an inference partner, planning deployments of the SN40 and SN50 systems; the company previously raised $350 million in February to expand the SN50 chip and entered a partnership with Intel that included a $35 million Intel investment.
Risks and uncertainties
- Uncertainty about Intel’s current ownership level and whether Intel participated in the Series F round - the company did not immediately answer requests for comment, leaving the precise size of Intel’s stake unresolved. This uncertainty affects the semiconductor and AI infrastructure sectors that may be influenced by strategic investor stakes.
- Execution and scaling risk as SambaNova deploys capacity and expands worldwide - the need to scale hardware manufacturing, systems integration and services poses operational and supply chain risks for the AI hardware and cloud services markets.
- Regulatory or transaction risk tied to prior acquisition discussions and clearances - while U.S. antitrust clearance was obtained for Intel’s $35 million investment, earlier acquisition talks stalled, indicating potential complexity in strategic transactions that could impact corporate investors and partnerships in the AI and semiconductor ecosystems.