London-based AI chip maker Fractile is seeking to raise $200m in funding at a $1bn valuation.
The startup is in discussions with Accel and early backer Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Sifted approached Fractile, Accel and OSE for comment.
Founded in 2022, Fractile builds hardware and software solutions for AI inference, including chips which it says work more efficiently, quickly and cheaply than US giant Nvidia's GPUs.
Last month, the UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan announced the company would invest £100m building up operations in London and Bristol, including a new engineering facility.
Backers include the Nato Innovation Fund (NIF), Cocoa VC, Kindred Capital and Arm cofounder Hermann Hauser. The company raised $15m in 2024 and Sifted reported in February that it had secured a further $22.5m from NIF, Kindred and OSE, and that it continues to hold talks with potential investors.
Fractile was founded by Walter Goodwin and Yuhang Song. Goodwin remains at the company, where he is CEO, while Song left in May 2024, according to his LinkedIn.
Sifted previously reported that Song, who had served as the company’s CTO, left the company in part due to concerns over his earlier attendance of a Chinese university designated under a US “entity list”, which restricts institutions thought to be at risk of being involved in “activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”
There was no indication of wrongdoing by Song.
A spokesperson for Fractile said Song had “left to pursue other technical and business interests in 2024,” adding that “it is very common in technology companies for people involved in early research and exploration to move on to other projects.” Song did not respond to requests for comment.
