Deeptech/Artificial Intelligence/News/ Graphcore raises $222m to speed up battle with Nvidia The Bristol-based company needs financial firepower to help win contracts with big customers like Microsoft and Alibaba. By Maija Palmer 29 December 2020 \Deeptech France adds €700m to Europe’s deeptech arms race By Chris O’Brien 31 March 2021 Deeptech/Artificial Intelligence/News/ Graphcore raises $222m to speed up battle with Nvidia The Bristol-based company needs financial firepower to help win contracts with big customers like Microsoft and Alibaba. By Maija Palmer 29 December 2020 Graphcore, the UK-based maker of microprocessors designed to support AI, has raised a $222m Series E funding round, to give it firepower against US rival Nvidia. The fundraising valued Graphcore at $2.77bn, and brings the company’s cash reserves to around $440m, designed to gain market share faster. “We need to go absolutely at speed, just get our head down and run.” “We need to go absolutely at speed, just get our head down and run,” cofounder and chief executive Nigel Toon told Sifted. “It is us and Nvidia in this market. To compete against a big company like that you need a market that is emerging like AI — it is developing rapidly and changing and that is pulling us through. If you can solve problems for companies like Alibaba and Microsoft then you have a business.” The new funding comes amid a difficult year for Graphcore, with sales falling short of expectations. “We have not grown as fast as I would have liked this year. Hyperscalers were just trying to keep things running as they dealt with new users coming on board. More strategic projects got put on hold,” said Toon. “But we have built a strong pipeline of customers.” In 2019, the company had revenues of $10.1m, while pre-tax losses widened to $95.9m from $60.3m the year before. AI: The new frontier Graphcore’s intelligence processing units (IPUs) are specifically designed to handle the heavy processing power requirements of artificial intelligence. Up to now, AI processing has been mainly done on graphics processing units (GPUs), originally designed for handling graphics-heavy gaming programmes, but now commonly used for any heavy-duty computing. Nvidia has dominated this market, overtaking Intel as the largest US chipmaker this year. In July, Graphcore unveiled a microprocessor that performed 16 times faster than Nvidia’s in benchmark tests, and researchers at Facebook and Google have published papers indicating that IPUs can perform significantly faster than GPUs. “Large customers want to know we’ll be here for the long term.” Graphcore’s chips are already used by some Microsoft Azure data centres, the DNA sequencing company Oxford Nanopore and by a number of banks and hedge funds. The big prize, however, would be contracts with hyperscale computing companies like Microsoft and Alibaba. Securing strong financial reserves is partly about reassuring those potential customers. “These incredibly large customers want to know we’ll be here for the long term,” he told Sifted. An IPO is in the pipeline, but not before 2022 at the earliest. Also in the pipeline is a potential IPO, although that is unlikely to be until 2022 at the earliest, said Toon. He is still undecided whether to list on the London Stock Exchange or Nasdaq in the US. “The UK needs a strong IPO market and we’d like to be able to support that when we list,” he told Sifted. “Being based in Europe is a benefit because we can look east as well as to North America.” Graphcore has been building up a presence in Asia, with opening offices in places including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and South Korea. The latest funding round was led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board with participation from funds managed by Fidelity International and Schroders, along with existing Baillie Gifford and Draper Esprit. This investment brings the total funds raised by Graphcore to more than $710m. Want the best of Sifted in your inbox? Our newsletter brings you the latest, greatest stories on startup Europe. Sign up Terms of Use Related Articles Clubhouse has revealed the German tech scene’s lack of diversity By Miriam Partington in Berlin Click here to read more A third of UK unicorns founded by ethnic minorities By Kai Nicol-Schwarz Click here to read more Not everyone can become an entrepreneur in Europe By Marie Mawad in Paris Click here to read more Only 21% of tech unicorns are led by women, report shows By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Get the best of Sifted in your inbox By entering your email you agree to Sifted’s Terms of Use Sign up to \Future Proof Sifted’s weekly \Corporate Innovation roundup email By entering your email you agree to Sifted’s Terms of Use Most Read 1 \Deeptech Europe is making faster cars and better batteries than Tesla 2 Member \Startup Life Enter the era of the digital nomad 3 Member \Fintech Index to miss out on Wise IPO bonanza after quietly cashing in stake 4 \Fintech UK fintech Freetrade mints millionaires out of early crowdfunding investors 5 Member \Venture Capital The 28 Italian startups to watch, according to top VCs Join the conversation Subscribe Notify of new follow-up comments new replies to my comments
Clubhouse has revealed the German tech scene’s lack of diversity By Miriam Partington in Berlin Click here to read more