Korean AI Chip Startup FuriosaAI Lands $620M at $2.9B Valuation to Challenge Nvidia
A South Korean startup just closed one of the biggest funding rounds for an AI chip company outside the United States.
The round values FuriosaAI at 2.9 billion dollars after it raised 620 million dollars in Series D financing.
Why Government Backing Matters for Chip Startups
South Korea’s National Growth Fund put in 280 million dollars as the largest single check.
This support reflects a national push to build a domestic AI semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
Founders in emerging tech hubs can watch how such public capital accelerates private rounds and attracts global investors.
The rest of the money came from international firms like Infinitum and existing Korean backers including NAVER and the Korea Development Bank.
Inference Chips Open New Doors for Enterprise AI
FuriosaAI focuses solely on inference chips that run trained AI models efficiently rather than training new ones.
Its RNGD accelerator is already in mass production with plans for 20,000 units this year and more than double in 2027.
Customers such as Samsung SDS and LG Group companies show real deployments in data centers and hybrid cloud setups.
Over the next 12 months this capital should help the company expand globally and start work on a third-generation chip with partners like Broadcom.
Founders building AI applications may soon have more energy-efficient hardware options that lower operating costs at scale.
