Tenspresso, an artificial intelligence chip startup founded by former Google engineers, is reportedly in discussions to raise at least $50 million in fresh funding at a valuation of approximately $500 million, just three months after its establishment.
According to Bloomberg, the Sunnyvale, California-based company has attracted interest from Altimeter Capital Management, which approached the startup about a potential investment. The discussions follow a $20 million funding round from Striker Venture Partners completed only weeks earlier.
The proposed investment remains under negotiation, and the final funding amount and valuation could change. No agreement has been announced.
Tenspresso was co-founded by Dong Hyuk Woo and Harshit Khaitan, who previously worked on Google's tensor processing units (TPUs), specialised processors developed to accelerate artificial intelligence workloads.
The startup currently employs approximately 15 people, including engineers who previously worked on Google's early AI chip development programmes.
Woo spent nearly a decade at Google, where he contributed to the company's TPU initiatives, including its Edge TPU programme. He subsequently joined Samsung Semiconductor, where he worked on advanced computing technologies.
Khaitan also worked on TPU hardware development at Google before moving to Meta, where he held a senior position involving AI accelerator technology.
The company is developing specialised chips intended to support complex AI workloads, particularly applications requiring longer context windows.
Context windows determine how much information an AI model can process during a single interaction. Larger context windows allow systems to work with longer documents, more extensive conversations and greater volumes of information.
Tenspresso's proposed processors are being designed to address the computing requirements associated with these workloads.
The company is targeting completion of its first chip design in late 2027 or early 2028, indicating that its technology remains in development.
Tenspresso is also holding discussions with chip design and manufacturing partners as it evaluates options for producing its processors.
According to the report, the startup is exploring alternatives to conventional semiconductor supply arrangements used by companies such as Nvidia and Google.
The approach is intended to reduce potential manufacturing delays associated with limited production capacity and supply chain constraints.
The reported funding discussions come as investors continue to support companies developing specialised hardware for artificial intelligence applications.
Demand for computing infrastructure has increased alongside the development and deployment of large AI models, creating opportunities for chipmakers focused on specific processing requirements.
However, Tenspresso has yet to complete its first chip design, and no commercial product launch or customer deployment has been announced.
The company's proposed valuation therefore reflects investor discussions at an early stage of product development rather than an established commercial business.
Tenspresso is also reportedly speaking with strategic investors, although the identities of additional participants and the final structure of the potential funding round have not been disclosed.
The company has not confirmed when the financing discussions are expected to conclude.
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