Graphcore, based in Bristol, southwest England, will join a portfolio backed by SoftBank, which also includes chip designer Arm. Investors in the startup had valued Graphcore at around $2.77 billion in late 2020, with backers such as Microsoft, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, and Baillie Gifford.
Chrysalis Investments Ltd., a British investor in Graphcore, anticipates receiving approximately $56 million from the sale of its stake. Irish venture capital firm Molten Ventures, which first invested in Graphcore in 2016, reported receiving $26 million from the deal.
SoftBank’s AI Expansion
This acquisition follows SoftBank leading a $1.05 billion funding round for self-driving car company Wayve, to accelerate the development of AI-driven vehicles.
Shares in SoftBank Group, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed at 11,395 Japanese yen ($72) on Friday. SoftBank, Graphcore, and Schroder did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
