Seongnam-si, South Korea — Sapeon, an AI semiconductor company, today announced that it has raised $45 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Ascent Equity Partners, with participation from GS Group affiliates, Daebo Communication & Systems Co., Hana Financial Group, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, We Ventures, and E1, among others.
The funding will be used to accelerate the development of Sapeon’s AI semiconductor technology. The company is developing a hyper-cloud AI processor that is optimally designed to process artificial intelligence tasks, using less power by efficiently processing large amounts of data simultaneously.
“We are excited to partner with Ascent Equity Partners and other leading investors to support the development of our AI semiconductor technology,” said Ryu Soojung, CEO of Sapeon. “This funding will allow us to accelerate our research and development efforts and bring our products to market faster.”
The funding round for Sapeon comes at a time of growing interest in AI semiconductors. AI semiconductors are specialized chips that are designed to accelerate the performance of AI algorithms. They are used in a variety of applications, including autonomous vehicles, facial recognition, and natural language processing.
The AI semiconductor market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. According to a report by IDC, the market is expected to reach $120 billion by 2025.
Other Recent Funding Rounds for AI Semiconductor Startups
In addition to Sapeon, a number of other AI semiconductor startups have raised funding in recent months. These include:
- Grove AI, which raised $100 million in Series B funding in June. Grove AI is developing AI chips for autonomous vehicles.
- Hailo, which raised $210 million in Series C funding in May. Hailo is developing AI chips for edge devices.
- Tenstorrent, which raised $200 million in Series C funding in April. Tenstorrent is developing AI chips for data centers.
The growing interest in AI semiconductors is being driven by the increasing demand for AI applications. AI is being used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation. As the demand for AI applications grows, the demand for AI semiconductors is also expected to grow.
Deal Table
| Key People | Investors | Amount Invested | Sector | Funding Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryu Soojung | Ascent Equity Partners, GS Group affiliates, Daebo Communication & Systems Co., Hana Financial Group, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, We Ventures, and E1 | $45 million | AI Semiconductors | Series A |