South Korea’s foremost AI Chip company “Rebellions” Secures $15M Series B Extension round by Wa’ed Ventures

• The funding round marks the venture capital’s first investment activity in South Korea
• Rebellions plans to accelerate AI chip development worldwide, utilizing the funds to expand its business into Saudi Arabia

[Seoul, July 23, 2024] Rebellions, a pioneering South Korean AI chipmaker, today announced the successful closing of a $15 million Series B extension funding round by Wa’ed Ventures, a $500 million venture capital fund wholly owned by Saudi Aramco

The investment by Wa’ed Ventures demonstrates the strong confidence in Rebellions’ advanced AI chip technology and its talented team. This is the first time Wa’ed Ventures has invested in a South Korean startup, which underscores Rebellions’ strong position as the leading AI chip company in Korea. The investment opens opportunities for business cooperation within the Kingdom and aims to establish Rebellions’ presence in the AI infrastructure market in Saudi Arabia.

“We are thrilled to have the support of Wa’ed Ventures,” said Sunghyun Park, Chief Executive Officer of Rebellions. “This strategic investment is pivotal as it not only accelerates our growth but also enhances our global business opportunities, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where AI technology investment is thriving. This partnership provides us with a clearer path to expand and innovate in key markets worldwide.”

Rebellions aims to utilize the funding to accelerate its chip development and introduce its innovations to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by establishing a new subsidiary and launching new business operations. This aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, a government initiative aimed at achieving economic diversification through crucial technological advancements.

“We are excited to support Rebellions in their journey to advance AI chip technology in the Kingdom. This investment underscores our commitment to fostering innovation in the semiconductor industry, which has become one of the strategic focus areas in Saudi Arabia’s vision for technological advancements”, said Fahad Alidi, Managing Director at Wa’ed Ventures.

Founded in 2020, Rebellions specializes in AI inference accelerators that offer superior energy efficiency and low-latency performance. Within three years, the company has introduced two AI chips, with its third ready to be rolled-out in the second half of this year. Rebellions completed its $124 million Series B funding this January, and with this extension, has now secured over $225 million in total funding since inception.

About Rebellions Rebellions is an AI chipmaker based in South Korea that specializes in chips for AI Inference. Within three years of its inception, the company has introduced two groundbreaking chips: the finance market-focused ION, released in 2021, and the datacenter-focused ATOM, launched in 2023. ATOM has demonstrated superior performance in MLPerf benchmarks and has been commercialized in Korea Telecom’s datacenters. Currently, Rebellions is collaborating with Samsung Foundry to develop its next-gen AI chip, REBEL, paving the way for advanced technology in the era of generative AI.For more information: https://rebellions.ai

About Wa’ed Ventures Wa’ed Ventures is a $500 million institutional venture capital firm wholly owned by Aramco to promote economic diversification and new business growth in the Kingdom by investing in high-growth tech startups across multiple sectors. Established in 2013, Wa’ed Ventures manages a portfolio of 70+ startups, providing end-to-end support to startups from funding to providing access to partner resources. The company is located in the city of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. For more information, please visit: www.waed.net