AI chip startup Tenstorrent has raised $1.5 billion in a Series E funding round, more than doubling its valuation to $6.2 billion post-money. Led by Trace Capital and Innovation X alongside backers like ARK Invest and Morgan Stanley, the funding follows takeover interest earlier in 2026. Under CEO Jim Keller, the Santa Clara company designs open-source RISC-V chips to reduce reliance on ecosystems like Arm, and will use the proceeds to scale production of its Galaxy servers.
Series E funding round
- ▪Tenstorrent raised $1.5 billion in a Series E funding round on October 19, 2026, valuing the AI chip startup at $6.2 billion post-money, more than doubling its valuation from December 2024
- ▪Investors participating in Tenstorrent's Series E funding round included Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, Sandisk, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, and Tether Investments
- ▪Tenstorrent's Series E funding round was co-led by Trace Capital—a firm started in 2026 by Quiet Capital co-founder Ben Mahdavi—and Innovation X
RISC-V architecture use
- ▪Tenstorrent develops AI chips and software using RISC-V, an open-source chip architecture that allows companies to design processors without paying license fees
- ▪Tenstorrent's use of open-source RISC-V architecture aims to reduce corporate reliance on proprietary chip ecosystems such as Arm
Galaxy server plans
- ▪Santa Clara, California-based Tenstorrent plans to use its $1.5 billion funding to scale production of its Galaxy servers
- ▪Tenstorrent's Galaxy servers combine dozens of AI chips to power applications including chatbots, coding assistants, and video generators
Jim Keller's background
- ▪Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller held key processor design roles at Apple and AMD prior to leading Tenstorrent
- ▪Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller previously led Tesla's efforts to develop a self-driving chip for electric vehicles
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