UK machine intelligence firm Graphcore raises $50 million from Sequoia Capital

Graphcore, based in Bristol, has raised $50 million led by Sequoia Capital to accelerate the release of its Intelligence Processing Unit products next year.

The funds will be invested in boosting production, growing its US office for customer support, and building a community of developers for the platform. According to Graphcore, its IPU can maker the performance of machine intelligence training up to 100 times better, compared to current hardware.

“Efficient AI processing power is rapidly becoming the most sought-after resource in the technological world,” said Nigel Toon, CEO.

“We believe our IPU technology will become the worldwide standard for machine intelligence compute,” he said. “The performance of Graphcore’s processor, compared to other accelerators, is going to be transformative, whether you are a medical researcher, roboticist, online marketplace, social network or building autonomous vehicles.”

Sequoia partners Matt Miller and Bill Coughran will join Graphcore’s board of directors and technical advisory board respectively.

“We believe Graphcore's product architecture, team and early market interest make it the best positioned new entrant in this market. We look forward to helping them build a large and enduring company,” said Miller.

Previous investors supported this Series C round including: Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, C4 Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango Venture Capital, and Samsung Catalyst Fund.

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