Cerebras Gets $1.1B Boost, Valuation Skyrockets Amid AI Inference Demand
So, Cerebras Systems, a company you might know as an Nvidia competitor, just snagged a massive $1.1 billion in a Series G funding round. It seems like they are on a roll, valuing the company at a whopping $8.1 billion. Can you believe it? This happened even after they initially planned to go public! Investors like Fidelity and Atreides Management are betting big on them.
Founded in 2015, Cerebras has been making waves with its AI-focused chips, hardware, and cloud services. They've now pulled in close to $2 billion in funding over the past decade. Their previous Series F round in 2021 already valued them at over $4 billion, so it's clear they're experiencing some serious growth.
According to Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman, this funding surge is largely due to the increasing demand for their AI inference services. If you're not familiar, inference is basically using AI models to generate outputs. It’s like giving an AI a task and seeing what it comes up with. Feldman mentioned they saw a real turning point in 2024 when AI became genuinely useful, leading to an explosion in demand. Because of this, they ramped up their resources and launched their inference cloud, and the response has been "overwhelming."
To keep up with the demand, Cerebras has been busy opening new data centers. They've already launched five this year in places like Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Santa Clara. And they're not stopping there! They've got plans for more locations in Montreal and Europe. These new funds will primarily go towards expanding their data center footprint and U.S. manufacturing efforts.
It's interesting because Cerebras actually filed for an IPO last year but ran into some regulatory roadblocks. Apparently, a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) caused delays, partly due to a $335 million investment from an Abu Dhabi-based company. They also faced further delays due to unfilled positions in CFIUS, early in President Trump’s term.
While the IPO is still on the cards, Feldman says they're following a common path for late-stage startups: raising a substantial funding round from public investors before going public themselves. He said they chose leaders who can help now, and in the future. Basically, it sounds like they're strategically positioning themselves for long-term success. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Source: TechCrunch