AI Startup Roundup: Chinese AI Chipmaker Raises $273 Million

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Funding news

Enflame

Chinese chipmaker Enflame designs processors for AI workloads. The Tencent-backed company has designed units for cloud computing, data centers and smart devices.

Latest funding: $273 million, series D

Investors: Funds operated by Shanghai International Group, a state-owned financial holding group

Funding plans: The investment will go towards developing Enflame's product line, including its Zixiao AI chip.

AlphaSense

New York City-based AlphaSense offers AI software solutions to help customers extract relevant information from various data sources.

Its AI tools can uncover insights from public and private content like equity research, earnings calls, company filings and news.

Latest funding: $150 million, series E

Lead investor: Bond Capital

Other investors: Alphabet’s CapitalG, Viking Global Investors and Goldman Sachs

Funding plans: AlphaSense CEO Jack Kokko said in a blog post the startup will use the new capital to expand its enterprise solution.

Kneron

American chipmaker Kneron builds edge hardware. Its KL530, unveiled in November 2021, powers edge applications like systems in autonomous vehicles.

Kneron’s chips can be integrated into existing systems and can run anything from detection models to systems that generate text.

Latest funding: $49 million, series B extension

Lead investor: Horizons Ventures

Other investors: Foxconn, Liteon Technology Corp, Adata, Palpilot

Funding plans: Kneron plans to use the additional funds to accelerate the deployment of advanced AI, focusing on nano GPT solutions for automotive in particular.

Nexusflow

Based in Palo Alto, Nexusflow builds tools that allow enterprises to own advanced AI models without leaking their sensitive data.

The startup was founded by Professors Jiantao Jiao and Kurt Keutzer from the Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Lab alongside former SambaNova machine learning director Jian Zhang.

Latest funding: $10.6 million, seed round

Lead investor: Point72 Ventures

Other investors: Fusion Fund

Funding plans: Alongside the funding round, Nexusflow released the NexusRaven model, which allows enterprises to synthesize fragmented data from various knowledge sources and software tools.

Invoke AI

Atlanta-based Invoke AI offers solutions designed to streamline creative workflows for artists, designers and marketers.

Latest funding:  $3.75 million, seed funding

Lead investor: Storm Ventures

Other investors: SignalFire, Universe Software

Funding plans: The funds will be used to build out the technology and bring to market an enterprise SaaS platform for professional creative teams.