Latest news with #DFJGrowth
Business Wire
28-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Positron AI Secures $51.6 Million in Oversubscribed Series A to Accelerate Inference-Optimized Hardware
RENO, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Positron AI, the premier company for American-made semiconductors and inference hardware, today announced the close of a $51.6 million oversubscribed Series A funding round, bringing its total capital raised this year to over $75 million. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management and DFJ Growth. Additional investment came from Flume Ventures, which includes tech icon Scott McNealy, Resilience Reserve, 1517 Fund and Unless. This new funding will support the continued deployment of Positron's first-generation product, Atlas, and accelerate the rollout of its second-generation products in 2026. With global tech firms projected to spend over $320 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025, enterprises face intensifying cost pressures, power ceilings and chronic shortages of NVIDIA GPUs. Positron's purpose-built alternative delivers cost and efficiency advantages that come from specialization. The company is currently shipping its first-generation product, Atlas, which delivers 3.5x better performance-per-dollar and up to 66% lower power consumption than NVIDIA's H100. Unlike general-purpose GPUs, Atlas is designed solely to accelerate and serve generative AI applications. 'The early benefits of AI are coming at a very high cost – it is expensive and energy-intensive to train AI models and to deliver curated results, or inference, to end users. Improving the cost and energy efficiency of AI inference is where the greatest market opportunity lies, and this is where Positron is focused,' said Randy Glein, co-founder and managing partner at DFJ Growth. 'By generating 3x more tokens per watt than existing GPUs, Positron multiplies the revenue potential of data centers. Positron's innovative approach to AI inference chip and memory architecture removes existing bottlenecks on performance and democratizes access to the world's information and knowledge.' Positron Atlas's memory-optimized FPGA-based architecture achieves 93% bandwidth utilization, compared to the typical 10–30% in GPU-based systems, and supports up to half a trillion-parameter models in a single 2-kilowatt server. It's fully compatible with Hugging Face transformer models and serves inference requests through an OpenAI API compatible endpoint. Atlas is powered by chips fabricated in the U.S. and is already deployed in production environments, enabling LLM hosting, generative agents and enterprise copilots with significantly lower latency and reduced hardware overhead. 'Memory bandwidth and capacity are two of the key limiters for scaling AI inference workloads for next-generation models,' said Dylan Patel, founder and CEO of SemiAnalysis, and an advisor and investor in Positron. SemiAnalysis is a leading research firm specializing in semiconductors and AI infrastructure that provides detailed insights into the full compute stack. 'Positron is taking a unique approach to the memory scaling problem, and with its next-generation chip, can deliver more than an order of magnitude greater high-speed memory capacity per chip than incumbent or upstart silicon providers.' Capital-Efficient Execution and Technical Depth Positron was co-founded in 2023 by CTO Thomas Sohmers and Chief Scientist Edward Kmett, with former Lambda COO Mitesh Agrawal joining as CEO to scale the company's commercial operations. In just 18 months, the team brought Atlas to market with only $12.5 million in seed funding. They validated performance, landed early enterprise customers and hardened the product in deployment environments before raising this Series A. Now, with growing adoption and a clear product roadmap, Positron is developing custom ASICs to unlock the next level of performance, power efficiency and deployment scale for inference. 'We founded Positron to meet the demands of modern AI: aiming to run the frontier models at the lowest cost per token generation with the highest memory capacity of any chip available,' said Mitesh Agrawal, CEO of Positron AI. 'Our highly optimized silicon and memory architecture allows for superintelligence to be run in a single system with our target of running up to 16-trillion-parameter models per system on models with tens of millions of tokens of context length or memory-intensive video generation models.' Early Enterprise Traction and Strategic Deployment Positron's first publicly announced customers include Parasail (with SnapServe) and Cloudflare, alongside additional deployments within other major enterprises and leading neocloud providers. A New Standard for American AI Infrastructure With the Series A closed, Positron is now advancing its next-generation system, engineered specifically for large-scale frontier model inference. Titan, the follow-on to Atlas powered by Positron's 'Asimov' custom silicon, will feature up to two terabytes of directly attached high-speed memory per accelerator, allowing for up to 16-trillion-parameter models to be run on a single system, and massively expanding context limits for the world's largest models. Titan will support parallel hosting of multiple agents or models, removing the traditional 1:1 model-to-GPU constraint that limits efficiency. Its over-provisioned, inference-tuned networking architecture will ensure low-latency, high-throughput performance even under heavy concurrency. With a standard data center form factor and no need for exotic cooling, the system is designed for seamless integration into existing infrastructures. 'We have passed on the overwhelming majority of AI accelerator startups we have diligenced over the last 6 years as most of them were mounting frontal assaults on NVIDIA that were unlikely to succeed. Positron has carefully chosen a defensible niche in low-cost inference. More importantly, they have proven that their software works before developing an ASIC: Positron is running competitively priced production inference workloads today on 2022 era FPGAs in a server of Positron's own design. This speaks to the quality of their software stack, their system-level expertise and the judgment of their management team,' said Gavin Baker, managing partner and chief investment officer of Atreides Management. About Positron AI Positron AI is transforming generative AI inference with energy-efficient, high-performance compute systems built entirely in the United States. Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, with a remote-first team distributed across the country, Positron's unique hardware architecture offers the lowest total cost of ownership for transformer models by solving the power, memory, and scalability bottlenecks of legacy infrastructure.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Neuralink secures $650m in Series E to advance brain implant technology
Neuralink has secured $650m in a Series E financing round, marking a milestone in the advancement of its brain implant technology. This latest financial boost is aimed at expanding the reach of the company's devices, which are said to restore independence for individuals with severe medical conditions. The round saw contributions from a host of investors, including DFJ Growth, ARK Invest, Founders Fund, Human Capital, G42, Lightspeed, QIA, Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital. Since its Series D round in August 2023, Elon Musk's Neuralink has been advancing the development of brain interfaces. According to the company, currently, five people with severe paralysis utilise Neuralink's technology to control various digital and physical devices using their thoughts alone. The company's trials are underway at neurosurgical care institutions across three countries on two continents. These comprise the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami, US, the Barrow Neurological Institute, US, the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and the University Health Network (Toronto Western Hospital), Canada. Neuralink invested in enhancing the device's interaction with a greater number of neurons and brain areas to unveil new potential dimensions. The fresh funding is set to expedite the company's drive to broaden access to patients and develop future solutions that bridge the gap between biological intelligence and AI. Musk has shifted focus back to his ventures, including Neuralink, Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, after stepping down as a special adviser to US President Donald Trump. Last November, Neuralink secured approval for the CONVOY trial to study the brain implant with an assistive robotic arm, alongside the PRIME study in the US. Additionally, Health Canada approved Neuralink's first global trial, CAN-PRIME, to assess its implantable device, with the aforementioned University Health Network hospital selected as the trial site. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration granted the company's brain-computer interface breakthrough device designation for treating individuals with severe speech impairment. "Neuralink secures $650m in Series E to advance brain implant technology" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Neuralink secures $650m in Series E to advance brain implant technology
Neuralink has secured $650m in a Series E financing round, marking a milestone in the advancement of its brain implant technology. This latest financial boost is aimed at expanding the reach of the company's devices, which are said to restore independence for individuals with severe medical conditions. The round saw contributions from a host of investors, including DFJ Growth, ARK Invest, Founders Fund, Human Capital, G42, Lightspeed, QIA, Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital. Since its Series D round in August 2023, Elon Musk's Neuralink has been advancing the development of brain interfaces. According to the company, currently, five people with severe paralysis utilise Neuralink's technology to control various digital and physical devices using their thoughts alone. The company's trials are underway at neurosurgical care institutions across three countries on two continents. These comprise the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami, US, the Barrow Neurological Institute, US, the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and the University Health Network (Toronto Western Hospital), Canada. Neuralink invested in enhancing the device's interaction with a greater number of neurons and brain areas to unveil new potential dimensions. The fresh funding is set to expedite the company's drive to broaden access to patients and develop future solutions that bridge the gap between biological intelligence and AI. Musk has shifted focus back to his ventures, including Neuralink, Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, after stepping down as a special adviser to US President Donald Trump. Last November, Neuralink secured approval for the CONVOY trial to study the brain implant with an assistive robotic arm, alongside the PRIME study in the US. Additionally, Health Canada approved Neuralink's first global trial, CAN-PRIME, to assess its implantable device, with the aforementioned University Health Network hospital selected as the trial site. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration granted the company's brain-computer interface breakthrough device designation for treating individuals with severe speech impairment. "Neuralink secures $650m in Series E to advance brain implant technology" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Two decades in, DFJ Growth raises $1.2 billion for its fifth fund and doubles down on the long game
DFJ Growth was founded between two ends of the world. In 2005, tech was starting to shake off the dotcom bubble burst, while global business as a whole was careening towards 2008 and the Great Financial Crisis. And somewhere in Silicon Valley, Barry Schuler and Randy Glein—along with venture capital pioneer John Fisher and industry veteran Mark Bailey—were thinking about the decades to come. Their thesis was this: To fill the gap between early-stage VC and the public markets, raise a 'growth' fund that helps companies stay private longer and mature before going public. This is now, of course, the standard thesis for growth funds in VC as we currently understand them. But back in 2005, it was a slightly hare-brained idea. Though there was a mounting history of VCs investing in more established startups that had already achieved product-market fit, Schuler, Glein, Fisher, and Bailey believed that companies were going to stay private a lot longer than anyone had seen in the past—a funky idea at a time when Google had gone public just the year before, after raising only a Series A. "When we went out to raise the first fund, it was really hard explaining what we were setting out to do,' said Schuler, who had been the CEO of AOL before becoming a VC. 'It would be: 'Tell me again, are you talking about growth equity? What are you talking about?'' 'When we were telling our prospective investors for that first fund,' Glein added. ''We're going to find companies that will be worth $1 billion or more,' they'd start counting on their fingers: 'How many of those have there been in the last five years?'' This was eight years before Aileen Lee would coin the term 'unicorn.' Bill Goldsmith, founding and managing member of Nantucket Multi-Managers, has been an LP in DFJ Growth since 2006—across all five funds—and remembers just how curious an idea it was back then. 'If you look at a company like Microsoft—it went public in 1986—the vast, vast majority of the value creation in Microsoft has occurred after it went public,' said Goldsmith. 'And DFJ's thesis that was going to change was a very, very differentiated point of view at the time…It piqued my curiosity, and was a very prescient call I might add, since that's exactly what's happened since 2006.' What was a curiosity became a tectonic shift, and Schuler and Glein are still working together 20 years later as cofounders and managing partners at DFJ Growth. The firm has raised its fifth fund at $1.2 billion, Fortune can exclusively report. The fund was originally set to be $800 million, the firm says, but expanded to meet demand. Though $1.2 billion is a massive step away from the firm's first fund in 2006, much remains the same. (DFJ Growth takes its name from the legendary early-stage venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, from which it spun out at its founding. The firm retained the DFJ name in part to reflect its continued connection to founding partner Fisher.) For two decades, DFJ Growth has consistently raised on four-year cycles, give or take, much longer than the more common two-year cycles. 'Our first fund was $270 million, and it invested in 26 companies over four to five years,' said Glein. 'Each fund has gotten a little bit bigger than the last, but we're still only investing in 20 to 25 companies per fund over three-and a-half or four years. Some people might call that fairly concentrated.' Currently, DFJ Growth's portfolio includes Anduril, Stripe, Scale AI, Cellares, and Formlabs, while the firm's exits span Coinbase, Twitter, Anaplan, Unity, and Ring. Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor and founder at Ring, remains grateful to DFJ Growth. As Ring hit a $500 million run rate and Amazon came calling, Glein and the firm believed that Ring had the momentum and much more room to grow. But Siminoff, 'a kid from New Jersey,' couldn't turn down a billion-dollar deal—and Glein immediately understood. "I think DFJ would bankrupt themselves for the right thing,' said Siminoff, who recently returned to Amazon. The firm also has invested in Elon Musk's companies for more than a decade, exiting Tesla after the 2010 IPO and right now backing SpaceX and xAI. (DFJ Growth declined to comment on Musk's political activities.) It's a range of wins, across all sorts of cycles—though DFJ Growth has sometimes sidestepped the hype. 'So, we spent most of 2021 making distributions,' said Glein. 'We thought it was the right thing to do. Markets were at all-time highs at that moment, with high multiples, much higher than today. It was hard for us to say 'it can get better than this.'' Of course, that was as good as it's gotten in recent memory. While others focused on funneling cash into sky-high unicorns thinking the numbers would keep going up—Glein and Schuler emphasized the 2021 IPOs of portfolio companies like Sumo Logic and Coinbase as opportunities to distribute to LPs over time, and leveraged secondaries where they could. 'We always look for top-of-market signals,' said Schuler. 'The term to watch out for is, 'this time it's different.' When you hear everyone saying that, you know the end is nigh. You know the party's going to stop soon, and you better have a chair to plop your butt in.' This is why, said Schuler, contrary to popular belief, venture capital isn't necessarily a long game won with youth. "I hate to say this, but you have an advantage with gray hair in VC,' he said. 'You've seen the almost an elder statesman now, and having lived through decades of tech boom and bust cycles, they're part of the way Silicon Valley works. It's how we advance.' And that's part of why the DFJ Growth story underlines the reasons we shouldn't be freaking out right now. 'They're kind of unflappable,' said James Lu, cofounder and CEO of Helix, which DFJ Growth first backed in 2018. 'I think almost no matter what version of the world around me I tell them about, they'll say: 'We've seen that before, here's what you should do.'' It's helpful at a moment when so much feels unprecedented—AI valuations hit unspeakable highs, exits are dry, and tariffs threaten the entire global supply chain as we know it. Every time things go bad, there are the same basic principles guiding surviving and thriving, as Glein puts it: "Our philosophy, especially in times of macroeconomic uncertainty, is to 'control your own destiny.' So, to a founder on a board we're involved in: Let's get in a position where we're able to control our own destiny, based on the capital and the runway you have available." Because if you take the long view, it's never actually the end of the world. See you tomorrow, Allie GarfinkleX: @agarfinksEmail: a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today's newsletter. Subscribe here. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Endor Labs raises $93m to expand AI-focused security platform
US-based application security company Endor Labs has raised $93m in its oversubscribed Series B funding round. The round was led by DFJ Growth, with additional participation from Salesforce Ventures and existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Dell Technologies Capital, Section 32 and Citi Ventures. The company, founded by Varun Badhwar and Dimitri Stiliadis, offers a platform designed to address security risks in the era of AI-generated code. Endor Labs' tools integrate with AI-powered programming assistants and are used by clients such as Dropbox, Egnyte, OpenAI, Peloton, Rubrik and Snowflake. According to the company, its platform currently secures more than five million applications and performs more than one million scans per week. Endor Labs plans to use the newly raised capital to expand its platform capabilities, grow its engineering team and support global go-to-market initiatives. Endor Labs co-founder and CEO Varun Badhwar said: 'We are building for the scale required to secure this AI era and not letting intermediate market volatility diverge us from our big goals. 'Our marquee customers need an application security platform that supports the pace of development they are confronting with AI. 'It is an honour to be that platform, to do a raise proactively, at a time like this, and to get to work with such quality investors, who share our commitment to excellence and innovation.' Since its Series A funding 18 months ago, Endor Labs has reported a 30-fold increase in annual recurring revenue and a net revenue retention rate of 166%. DFJ Growth venture partner Ramin Sayar said: 'Developers' increasing reliance on AI-generated code further complicates the challenge for security teams. 'Endor Labs embraces this shift with their unparalleled expertise in rethinking security from the ground up – and outing risky AI-generated code and uniquely optimising remediation strategies.' "Endor Labs raises $93m to expand AI-focused security platform" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
