Rebellions, a promising South Korean fabless AI chip startup, has successfully closed a significant $124 million Series B funding round. The funding will primarily fuel the development of its third-generation AI chip, named Rebel. The startup, founded in 2020, plans to utilize the oversubscribed capital to enhance production of its data center-focused chip, Atom, and for expanding its workforce.
According to Sungkyue Shin, Rebellions’ CFO, the Series B funding round values the three-year-old startup at approximately $658 million post-money. In an exclusive interview with TechCrunch, Shin highlighted the strategic importance of this funding, emphasizing the critical juncture the chip industry is currently navigating, particularly in AI chip development and utilization.
KT, the South Korean telecom giant, led the Series B round as a strategic investor, with participation from previous backers such as Temasek’s Pavilion Capital and Korea Development Bank. Notable new investors include Korelya Capital and DG Daiwa Ventures.
Rebellions’ total funds raised now stand at around $210 million since its inception, positioning the startup competitively in the evolving AI chip landscape. The current funding influx arrives amidst heightened competition in the AI chip sector, with industry leaders like Nvidia maintaining dominance. However, the persistent challenges of data processing and associated high costs continue to drive innovation and competition among various players.
In a noteworthy development, Rebellions announced a partnership with Samsung Electronics last October to develop its Rebel chip. Scheduled for completion by the end of this year, Rebel aims to enter mass production in 2025. Notably, Rebel will utilize Samsung Electronics’ 4-nanometer fabrication process and will be integrated with Samsung’s advanced memory chip technology HBM3E. This technology is specifically designed for handling high bandwidth memory in large language models.
Rebellions’ unique selling point lies in the claimed versatility of its technology and products, which purportedly surpasses customized AI chips. The company asserts its capability to support various generative AI models requiring AI accelerators.
Shin emphasized that the collaboration with Samsung will extend from co-development and chip design to mass production of Rebel. Samsung’s motivation in this partnership extends beyond mere collaboration, as it aligns with the company’s efforts in developing its own generative AI model, Samsung Gauss.
Rebellions has also made strides with its existing chip models. Atom, the data center-focused AI chip, has been deployed by strategic investor KT in its cloud-based neural processing units (NPU) infrastructure. The company anticipates generating revenues from Atom in the second half of this year. Atom, designed for data centers and language models of up to 7 billion parameters, complements Rebel, which targets larger language models and hyperscalers.
In addition to Atom, Rebellions’ portfolio includes its first AI chip, Ion, designed for edge computing. Ion, launched in November 2021, is currently undergoing qualification testing in the U.S. with an anticipated focus on applications in financial services.
Rebellions, founded by CEO Sunghyun Park and four co-founders in 2020, continues to make waves in the AI chip industry, showcasing its commitment to innovation, strategic partnerships, and a comprehensive product lineup.
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