FuriosaAI Raises $125M Amid South Korea's Chip Push

FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip startup, has raised US$125 million in Series C bridge funding, bringing its total funding to US$246 million and valuing the company at US$735 million.

Investors include Korea Development Bank, Kakao Investment, and others. The funds will support ramped-up production of its RNGD inference chip and development of its next-generation AI chip, advancing the firm’s goal to compete with global leaders like Nvidia. Despite a 2024 revenue dip of 18.3 percent to $2.3 million and net losses of $109 million, FuriosaAI’s ability to raise fresh capital—and reject an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta—reflects confidence in its long-term vision and state-backed industrial strategy.

Key Highlights

• FuriosaAI raises $125M, bringing total funding to $246M; valuation now $735M
• Backed by state strategy, Furiosa ramps up RNGD chip production and next-gen design
• Competes with rival Rebellions amid Korea’s $23B chip investment push

Founded in 2017 by June Paik, FuriosaAI’s chips use SK Hynix's HBM3 memory and are fabricated using TSMC’s 5nm process. Its technology has recently been adopted by LG AI Research for its large language model EXAONE and enterprise agent ChatExaone, establishing FuriosaAI’s presence in the LLM and enterprise AI market.

This momentum is bolstered by South Korea’s $23 billion chip support package, including $14 billion for domestic firms like Samsung and SK Hynix, and the broader $450 billion K-Semiconductor Strategy to build a complete domestic chip ecosystem by 2030.

Also Read: Samsung Tops South Korea's Stock Charts on AI Chip Hype

FuriosaAI’s progress plays out against the backdrop of rising competition from domestic rival Rebellions, now valued at $851 million after merging with Sapeon. This competition is accelerating innovation and positioning South Korea as a serious contender in the global AI hardware race.