AI chip startup Tenspresso is in talks to raise at least US$50 million in new funding. The proposed round values the company at US$500 million. Tenspresso was founded by former Google AI chip engineers.
Investor interest
Altimeter Capital Management approached the startup about investing. Tenspresso recently secured US$20 million from Striker Venture Partners. It also completed several key executive hires.
Company context
The Sunnyvale company is three months old. Founders Dong Hyuk Woo and Harshit Khaitan previously worked on Google tensor processing units. Its 15-person team includes members from early AI chip teams.
Product plans
Tenspresso designs chips for complex AI workloads with long context windows. It plans to complete its first product design in late 2027 or early 2028. The startup is negotiating with manufacturing partners outside the supply chain used by Nvidia and Google.
The round size could still change. It remains uncertain whether the deal will be finalized. Final financing terms have not been disclosed.
Read more: bloomberg.com