Catenaa, Monday, January 19, 2026- AI chip designer FuriosaAI is seeking to raise as much as $500 million in a funding round before an IPO as it gears up to challenge industry titan Nvidia.
Quoting sources, Bloomberg reported that the Seoul-based startup has appointed Morgan Stanley and Mirae Asset Securities as co-advisers for the Series D round, and is targeting $300 million to $500 million in the round.
Proceeds will fund FuriosaAI’s mass production of its second-generation RNGD chip, global business expansion, and the development of a third-generation chip.
The startup is eyeing a potential public listing as early as 2027, they said. FuriosaAI is set to receive its first mass-produced shipment of RNGD AI chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company(TSMC) later this month.
Founded in 2017 by June Paik, a veteran of Samsung Electronics and Advanced Micro Devices, FuriosaAI specializes in high-efficiency AI inference chips.
The RNGD, pronounced “renegade,” delivers 2.25 times the inference performance-per-watt of traditional graphics processing units, according to the company.
The milestone comes amid a boom in AI hardware investment. Groq raised $750 million in a round last year ahead of a strategic partnership with Nvidia.
Other recent deals include Cerebras Systems pursuit of $1 billion in new capital at a $22 billion valuation and Etched’s $500 million funding round.
