Chip Firm Fractile Seeks $6.5 Billion Value After Anthropic Deal

Fractile, a startup developing chips tailored for artificial intelligence use that has a deal to supply Anthropic PBC, is in advanced talks to notch a valuation more than six times higher than the price it landed in May.

The company is raising funds at a pre-money valuation of $6.5 billion and expects to bring in about $600 million in the round, according to people familiar with the matter. That amount includes some money invested at a lower valuation.

Fractile previously raised a $220 million financing round three months ago, led by venture firms Accel, Founders Fund and Factorial Funds. The investment gave the British startup a valuation of around $1 billion, Bloomberg reported. At the time, Fractile said it was raising funds to bring its first AI chips to market.

The startup has reached an initial deal to sell roughly $250 million of its chips to Anthropic, with the intention to expand that contract in the future, according to people familiar with the efforts. Those chips aren’t expected to be ready for use until 2027, they said.

The round isn’t closed and details could change, the people said. Fractile and Anthropic declined to comment.

Founded in 2022 by Walter Goodwin, a University of Oxford roboticist, Fractile aims to make systems that reduce the time it takes AI to generate answers or solve complex problems. It’s focused on running existing AI models, a process known as inference. The startup has also touted its potential for areas beyond chatbots, such as AI systems that discover new drugs and materials.

Fractile is one of several newcomers designing semiconductors customized for AI inference, trying to claim parts of a market dominated by Nvidia Corp. Those challengers include Cerebras Systems Inc. and venture-capital backed startups like Etched.