Rebellions, the South Korean AI chip startup, has successfully raised $124 million in a Series B funding round led by telecom giant KT. This funding will drive the development of Rebellions’ third AI chip, Rebel, alongside scaling production for its data center-focused Atom chip. The strategic collaboration with Samsung Electronics is a pivotal move, aiming to utilize Samsung’s advanced memory chip technology for Rebel. The fundraiser underscores the increasing competition in the AI chip industry, with Rebellions positioning itself as a versatile player with the potential to support various generative AI models.
Rebellions, a South Korean fabless AI chip startup, recently announced the successful closure of a Series B funding round, securing a substantial $124 million (165 billion KRW). The primary objective of this funding is to propel the development of the company’s third AI chip, named Rebel. Additionally, the capital will be utilized to enhance the production capacity of its data center-focused chip, Atom, and to support the recruitment efforts necessary for the company’s growth.
The Series B round, initially aimed at $90 million, saw an oversubscription due to increased interest from investors. This funding round values Rebellions, a three-year-old startup founded in 2020, at approximately $658 million (880 billion KRW) post-money, according to Sungkyue Shin, the CFO of Rebellions, in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch. The latest funding infusion brings the total raised by Rebellions to approximately $210 million since its inception.
Leading the Series B round as a strategic investor is KT, a prominent South Korean telecom giant. The funding round also saw participation from existing backers such as Temasek’s Pavilion Capital and Korea Development Bank. Additionally, new investors, including Korelya Capital and DG Daiwa Ventures, joined the funding initiative.
Rebellions’ successful fundraising comes at a pivotal moment in the chip industry, particularly concerning the development and utilization of AI chips. Nvidia currently dominates the AI chip market, with its name closely associated with the ongoing AI boom. However, challenges such as data processing and related high costs persist in the AI applications space, prompting a continuous search for innovative breakthroughs.
In the competitive landscape, major tech giants like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft are actively developing their chips to integrate AI into their products and services. Open AI, led by CEO Sam Altman, has reportedly explored collaborations with South Korean chip industry leaders Samsung and SK Hynix, while also considering substantial investments to establish chip fabrication factories for in-house AI chip production.
A significant aspect of Rebellions’ recent developments is its partnership with Samsung Electronics. Last October, the startup revealed its collaboration with Samsung for the development of the latest Rebel chip, building on the relationship initiated with its Atom chips. Rebel is slated for completion by the end of this year, with mass production scheduled for 2025. The chip will leverage Samsung Electronics’ 4-nanometer fabrication process and be deployed in Samsung’s advanced memory chip technology HBM3E, designed for high bandwidth memory used in large language models.
Rebellion distinguishes itself by claiming greater versatility in its technology and products compared to customized AI chips, allowing support for various generative AI models that require AI accelerators. The company emphasizes its collaboration with Samsung, spanning co-development, chip design, and mass production of the Rebel chip. Notably, Samsung has its stake in the generative AI domain with the development of Samsung Gauss.
Rebellions have also been actively working with customers, and in May 2023, its strategic investor KT installed Atom, the company’s data-center-focused AI chip, in its cloud-based neural processing units (NPU) infrastructure. Revenue generation from Atom is anticipated 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.
The startup’s initial AI chip, Ion, launched in November 2021, is currently undergoing qualification testing in the U.S. Ion, designed for edge computing, has not yet secured any commercial customers, but Rebellions envisions key applications in financial services, particularly for institutions building their hardware to power stock prediction and trading applications.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Sunghyun Park, a former quant developer at Morgan Stanley in New York, Rebellions has positioned itself as a significant player in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI chip development. With its recent funding and strategic partnerships, the company is poised to make significant contributions to the advancement of AI technology, particularly in the realm of generative AI models and large language models.
Rebellions’ successful funding round, totaling $210 million since its inception, underscores its commitment to revolutionizing the AI chip industry. The partnership with Samsung Electronics for the Rebel chip, set to enter mass production in 2025, adds a significant layer to Rebellion’s competitive edge. As the company actively collaborates with major players and penetrates data center markets, its potential impact on AI applications becomes increasingly evident. With a foundation laid by its Atom and Ion chips, Rebellions is poised to contribute substantially to the advancement of AI technology. The Series B success not only solidifies Rebellions’ financial standing but positions it as a key player in shaping the future of AI chip innovation.
