On 28 October, Seoul-based AI chipmaker FuriosaAI announced a $620 million (KRW 820 billion) Series D at a post-money valuation of about $2.9 billion. Bloomberg reported that the valuation is roughly four times the level of the company’s previous round. It was the largest venture round in Asia in the last week of October.
Who put in the money
South Korea’s National Growth Fund was the largest investor, with $280 million. International investors added $110 million. US-based Infinitum was the largest of these, joined by Jericho Capital, QUDA Capital Partners, Cisco Investments, Abu Dhabi’s NeoFort Holding and Worldline Capital. Existing shareholders contributed $125 million in follow-on money, including Korea Development Bank. The Next Web reported that NAVER, DSC Investment, KDB Capital, the Export-Import Bank of Korea and UAMCO also took part.
What FuriosaAI is building
FuriosaAI makes RNGD, an accelerator for AI inference in data centres. It is pitched as a more power-efficient alternative to Nvidia GPUs for running models. RNGD went into mass production in January 2026. The company expects to make 20,000 cards in 2026 and more than 40,000 in 2027. Customers named by the company include LG Group, which runs its EXAONE models on RNGD, Upstage and Samsung SDS.
The round has two stated uses: scaling RNGD production and deployments globally, and building a third-generation chip. That chip is being developed with Broadcom and other partners on a 2nm, multi-die design with HBM4-class memory.
What the raise means for vendors
Doubling chip output means more spending on memory, foundry and packaging capacity, test, logistics and board manufacturing. FuriosaAI says it has already secured memory and fab capacity for 2027, so the supply side is largely spoken for. The openings are elsewhere.
A next-generation 2nm chip programme pulls in EDA tools, IP licensing, verification and simulation services. Global deployments need data-centre partners, systems integrators and field engineering. A wider software ecosystem needs developer tooling and support staff. The round also includes a $110 million international tranche. That points to more sales and partner activity outside Korea, which usually brings hiring, recruiting, legal and go-to-market spending abroad.
Korea’s bet on inference chips
The size of the National Growth Fund’s cheque shows how much Seoul wants a home-grown AI chip supplier. For vendors, government backing usually means a buyer that will keep spending for several years rather than one quarter.
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Sources: FuriosaAI blog, 28 October 2026; Business Wire; The Next Web; Crunchbase. Featured image: semiconductor wafer, by DrHughManning, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.