South korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI challenges nvidia with 29 billion dollar valuation

South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI has raised new funding, pushing its valuation to $2.9 billion, nearly four times its previous estimate. The D-round funding totaled $620 million, with Infinitum Partners, the National Growth Fund, and other international investors participating. FuriosaAI aims to challenge NVIDIA's dominance in the AI data center market by offering more energy-efficient solutions for AI inference. The company, founded in 2017, began mass-producing its RNGD chip in January 2026 and is working with Broadcom on its third-generation AI accelerator. It plans to increase production to over 40,000 units by 2027. FuriosaAI's RNGD chip is already used by Samsung SDS, LG Group, and Upstage, a South Korean AI startup. The company also received support from Naver, the Korea Development Bank, and other long-term investors. This marks the first direct investment by the Korea Export-Import Bank in a startup. With growing AI demand driving up energy costs, reducing inference expenses has become a key focus for the industry.