China tech company raises $313M to grow GPU development

The company recently opened an R&D center in Chengdu

Chinese graphic processor unit (GPU) maker Moore Threads has closed a $313 million series A round.

Source Code Capital, which previously invested in Mexican fintech firm Stori, led the round alongside state-backed Shanghai Goushend Capital.

China Construction Bank, Bohai Sheng Industrial Fund Management and China Merchants Securities also join in the fiancing.

The semiconductor company said it would use the new funds to further develop its chips and move towards mass production.

The financing also is aimed at increasing research and development for GPU system on chip (SOC), as well as securing intellectual property.

“The domestically-made full-featured GPU developed and designed by Moore Thread, taking into account computing power and computing efficiency, can empower a wider range of digital application scenarios and contribute to the development of China's digital economy innovation power,” said Zhou Daohong, general manager of Shanghai Guosheng Capital.

Early backers tied to TikTok

The company, Moore Threads Intelligent Technology Beijing Co., is based in the Chinese capital and was founded in October 2020.

Among the startup’s earlier backers is ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, which is planning to develop its own cloud AI offerings.

Moore Threads itself is planning to develop GPUs for AI computing. Its chips house a suite of functional cores covering 3D graphics computing, logic computing and AI training.

The startup has its eyes set on deploying its GPUs in several markets, not limited to smart energy, autonomous driving and industrial simulation.