AI chip startup Tenstorrent raises $1.5bn, valuation hits $6.2bn in Series E round

Tenstorrent has raised $1.5 billion in a Series E funding round, valuing the AI chip startup at $6.2 billion post-money. The round was led by Trace Capital and Innovation X, with the company planning to scale production of its Galaxy servers.

AI chip startup Tenstorrent announced on Monday that it has raised $1.5 billion in a late-stage funding round, valuing the company at $6.2 billion post-money. The Series E round more than doubles the Santa Clara, California-based firm's valuation from December 2024, when it raised over $693 million at a $2 billion pre-money valuation.

The funding round was led by Trace Capital and Innovation X, with additional backing from Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, Sandisk, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price and Tether Investments. Tenstorrent plans to use the capital to scale production of its Galaxy servers, which combine dozens of its AI chips to power applications including chatbots, coding assistants and video generators.

Tenstorrent develops AI chips and software using RISC-V, an open-source chip architecture that enables companies to design processors without license fees and reduce dependence on proprietary chip ecosystems such as Arm's. CEO Jim Keller, a prominent chip architect, previously led Tesla's efforts to develop a self-driving chip for electric vehicles and held key design roles at Apple and AMD among others.

The December 2024 funding round that valued Tenstorrent at $2 billion pre-money was led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners.