AI chip startup Etched defies skeptics, hits $10.3B valuation from big-name investors
What changed
Etched, the AI chip startup founded by three Harvard dropouts in 2022, has closed a $300 million Series C funding round at a $10.3 billion valuation, co-founder and COO Robert Wachen tells TechCrunch. The round was led by Sequoia, with Andreessen Horowitz, SK Hynix, Jane Street, and Diffusion Capital also participating, along with other, earlier investors. Because the startup was launched before most of the tech world (besides Nvidia) understood AI’s specialized compute needs, the founders, CEO Gavin Uberti, Wachen, and Chris Zhu, have faced plenty of skeptics who kept doubting even after the company announced that its first batch of silicon had been successfully manufactured by TSMC.
Why it matters
A concrete addition to Practical AI: Tools, Models & Frameworks: it changes what's available to builders today rather than being general commentary.
How it compares
Related prior coverage to compare against:
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Sources
- AI chip startup Etched defies skeptics, hits $10.3B valuation from big-name investors (techcrunch-ai)primary