OLIX Raises $312M in Record European Semiconductor Venture Round
London-based startup OLIX has secured $312 million in Series B funding, reaching a $3.3 billion valuation. The four-year-old firm develops Optical Tensor Processing Units that utilize light beams instead of electricity to advance artificial intelligence computing. While the hardware remains in development with initial customer systems planned for late 2027, the financing stands as Europe's largest semiconductor venture round.
Key points
- OLIX, a four-year-old London-based chip startup, secured $312 million in Series B funding, achieving a valuation of $3.3 billion.
- The company designs Optical Tensor Processing Units, which are processors that employ beams of light rather than electric current to execute artificial intelligence matrix mathematics.
- Backers participating in the funding round included chip-design firm Arm, Fundomo, Hudson River Trading, and existing investors such as Hummingbird Ventures and Crane.
- The newly acquired capital will finance the development of the DX-1 inference accelerator, with initial customer systems targeted for the second half of 2027.
- Industry backers describe the transaction as the largest semiconductor venture round ever closed by a European enterprise.
London chip startup OLIX has closed a $312 million Series B funding round, pushing its valuation to $3.3 billion. Backers have characterized the transaction as the largest semiconductor venture round ever completed by a European company. Founded four years ago, the firm focuses on overcoming traditional power and memory constraints in artificial intelligence computing.
OLIX develops what it terms Optical Tensor Processing Units, or OTPUs. These processors use beams of light instead of conventional electric current to perform the complex matrix mathematics required by AI models. This photonic architecture aims to bypass high-bandwidth memory, a scarce and expensive component that often limits the speed of leading accelerators.
The newly secured capital will directly fund the creation of the company's inaugural inference accelerator, designated as the DX-1. OLIX intends to deliver initial customer systems during the second half of 2027. Because the enterprise has not yet shipped hardware to paying users, the timeline leaves the startup in a research stage.
The latest financing round attracted a diverse group of strategic and financial participants. New investors joining the effort include chip-design enterprise Arm, venture group Fundomo, and trading house Hudson River Trading. Meanwhile, existing backers including Hummingbird Ventures, Crane, Plural, Creandum, Phoenix Court, and Transition all increased their financial commitments.
Sources
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