(Bloomberg) -- Graphcore, a U.K. startup that designs computer chips, is in advanced talks for a $50 million investment, said people with knowledge of the matter, another sign in the growing frenzy around startups linked to artificial intelligence.
Sequoia Capital is expected to lead the investment round in the startup, which makes chips specifically for artificial intelligence applications, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. At one point, Graphcore sought a valuation of about $1 billion, though it wasn't able to reach that height, the people said.
Graphcore and Sequoia Capital declined to comment.
Sequoia Capital has driven few deals in Europe recently, but the planned investment from the Silicon Valley venture capital firm is a sign of the increasing investor enthusiasm over AI.
Venture capital funds pumped in $1.09 billion in AI startups over the third quarter of 2017, the third quarter in a row where funding exceeded $1 billion, according to a joint report by PwC and CB Insights.
Graphcore raised $30 million just four months ago, when London's Atomico valued the business at $200 million, the people said. Other investors include Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google's DeepMind, and Zoubin Ghahramani, the chief scientist at Uber Technologies Inc.
Graphcore's is designing a chip specifically tailored to machine learning. Machine-learning algorithms, which can require large amounts of computing power, are often run on graphics processing units. But these chipsets, made by companies such as Nvidia Corp., were originally designed for rendering images, mostly in video games and design applications.
The additional cash would bring Graphcore's total to around $110 million. Chief Executive Officer Nigel Toon has said his goal is to double or triple Graphcore's 60-person team by the end of next year. The company has yet to develop a chip past the benchmark testing phase but has said it will begin selling products broadly next year.
--With assistance from Adam Satariano
To contact the reporters on this story: Giles Turner in London at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Lizette Chapman in San Francisco at lchapman19@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Giles Turner
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
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