Samsung backs promising Korean AI chip startup

Samsung regularly invests in multiple startups and companies. It also encourages its own employees to create their own startups through its C-Lab program. Recently, the company has invested capital in a promising AI chip firm from South Korea.

Samsung Ventures, the venture capital arm of Samsung Group, has invested in Rebellions. It is a South Korean fabless chip startup that designs AI accelerators and competes with local rivals like FuriosaAI and titans like AMD and Nvidia. Recently, the company merged with SAPEON Korea to become the country's first AI chip unicorn.

Samsung Ventures was one of the investors that participated in Rebellions' Series C funding of $250 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion. The rest of the investors include chip design giant Arm, Pegatron, and Lion X Ventures. Previous investors include Korea Development Bank and Korelya Capital.

Samsung has been working with Rebellions for a few years now. It has been manufacturing chips for the startup. It made 5nm chips for the company in 2021, 4nm chips in 2023, and has already bagged orders to make 2nm GAA chips for Rebellions.

Rebellions focuses on making cost-effective and power-efficient AI accelerators as opposed to power-hungry chips from the likes of Nvidia. The company's REBEL-Quad chip is its flagship model and has been designed for large-scale AI inference.