Chip start-up led by ex-Apple engineer seeks funding at $2.5 billion valuation
Six-month-old Nuvacore of San Jose is developing a data-center processor and has no product yet. Its co-founders include Nuvia founder Gerard Williams.
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Semiconductor start-up Nuvacore is raising new funding at a valuation of about $2.5 billion, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The San Jose-based company is only six months old and has not yet released a product. It aims to raise several hundred million dollars; The Information earlier reported a target of at least $200 million.
Nuvacore is developing a central processing unit for data centers that supply computing power for artificial intelligence. It was founded by Gerard Williams, John Bruno and Ram Srinivasan. Williams previously worked at Apple and founded Nuvia, which Qualcomm bought for $1.4 billion in 2021. Sequoia Capital is the only investor named so far.
According to Reuters, Nuvacore plans to define the chip's core functions before choosing an architecture, which could let it avoid constraints tied to x86 (Intel and AMD) or Arm designs. The round is still open and its terms could change. Nuvacore declined to comment.