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Lightmatter nearly quadruples valuation to $4.4B as it builds a new kind of AI chip
PitchBook ^ | Published October 16, 2024 | By Jacob Robbins

Posted on 10/17/2024 7:02:59 AM PDT by xoxox

Lightmatter, a company building computer chips that process information with light, has raised a $400 million Series D at a $4.4 billion valuation, highlighting investors’ appetite for novel solutions to AI’s computational demands.

T. Rowe Price Associates led the round with additional backing from previous investors GV and Fidelity.

The raise continues Boston-based Lightmatter’s remarkable growth. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $709 million in the past 18 months. With its Series D, Lightmatter has nearly quadrupled its previous valuation of $1.2 billion in a $155 million Series C-2 that closed in December 2023. In May 2023, it raised $154 million in a Series C-1.

Lightmatter, which hired former Nvidia executive Simona Jankowski as its CFO in July, will use the funding to bring its technology into data centers.

Lightmatter stands out for the unique way it builds chips. Instead of using traditional electricity and circuity to transmit data, the company creates semiconductors that employ light photonics, using light and lasers to move data around.

The technique is more energy efficient and faster since it can process data as it moves from one place to another. Traditional chips must stop and process before moving information.

But photonic systems can be costly to build and are often bulkier than traditional semiconductors.

As AI drives incredible demand for computing power, other startups with novel solutions are also trying to cash in. In July, Halo Industries raised $80 million to develop new ways to build silicon wafers for chips, led by Thomas Tull’s firm US Innovative Technology Fund. Celestial AI, another photonic computing startup, raised a $175 million Series C in March, also led by USIT.

Lightmatter’s fundraise also comes on the heels of Cerebras, an AI chipmaker, filing to go public in September.

(Excerpt) Read more at pitchbook.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: cerebras; chip; haloindustries; light; lightmatter; money; nvidia; photonics; simonajankowski; thomastull

1 posted on 10/17/2024 7:02:59 AM PDT by xoxox
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To: xoxox

As Nvidia crashes, another AI play comes into view.


2 posted on 10/17/2024 7:09:57 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: xoxox

3 posted on 10/17/2024 7:14:58 AM PDT by Alas Babylon! (Repeal the Patriot Act; Abolish the DHS; reform FBI top to bottom!)
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To: xoxox

It should be noted that this and other innovative technologies are fundamentally changing the nature of warfare. Defending your lands and assets from a technologically sophisticated agressor is not simple. Try to imagine if Iran or their surrogates were one day able to one up Israel however briefly.


4 posted on 10/17/2024 7:16:10 AM PDT by allendale
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To: Alas Babylon!

I just re-watched that movie.


5 posted on 10/17/2024 7:25:46 AM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: xoxox

doesn’t appear to be publicly traded...else I’d buy puts


6 posted on 10/17/2024 7:29:20 AM PDT by reed13k
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To: xoxox

The amounts of money available for “tech” is just incredible.

meanwhile new discoveries of oil, gold, silver, copper, etc... have reached multi-decades lows.


7 posted on 10/17/2024 7:32:47 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Yo-Yo

NVDA crashes?? - It’s at its all time high today!


8 posted on 10/17/2024 7:44:57 AM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they. control you. )
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To: Yo-Yo

Nvidia crashes? I’m up +744.48% with my meager investment, purchased on a whim a few years back.


9 posted on 10/17/2024 8:25:04 AM PDT by vortigern
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To: xoxox

Thanks for posting this!

Israeli startup Lightsolver is another very interesting company and technology, not claiming to do AI, but solving NP-hard problems quicker faster than conventional computers with optical parallel computing. Apparently not preparing to go public, but already making some money.

https://thequantuminsider.com/2023/05/09/lightsolver-announces-laser-based-processing-unit/

https://lightsolver.com/


10 posted on 10/17/2024 8:25:19 AM PDT by takebackaustin
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