London-based AI hardware startup OLIX has raised $312m (£231.8m) in a Series B funding round, securing a valuation of $3.3bn (£2.45bn) as it works to scale its specialised silicon platform for AI inference.
OLIX is aiming to tackle the compute efficiency bottleneck in AI inference by replacing general-purpose GPUs with specialised silicon tailored to specific stages of token generation.
Its X-1 platform unrolls models across custom chips connected via a high-speed “slow and wide” optical interconnect that uses light rather than copper to transfer data between hardware nodes.
The company’s initial chip, the DX-1 decode accelerator, relies on fast on-chip SRAM rather than High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) or advanced packaging, allowing OLIX to bypass the supply chain shortages currently bottlenecking the wider semiconductor industry.
The capital injection will fund the path to deliver the DX-1 chip to launch customers by the second half of 2027, support supply chain commitments, and expand its engineering teams across London, Bristol, Austin, Toronto, and San Francisco.
The round saw investment from Fundomo, Arm, and Hudson River Trading, alongside high-profile angel investors including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings. Existing backers Hummingbird Ventures, Crane, Plural, Creandum, Phoenix Court, and Transition all increased their commitments in the two-year-old firm.
The group has also been backed by the UK government’s Sovereign AI venture fund.
“The future of AI will be built on chips that power models. Countries that build chips will build leverage,” said AI Minister Kanishka Narayan.
“OLIX is exactly the kind of ambitious company we want to back through Sovereign AI. In just two years, it has established itself as one of the UK’s most exciting AI startups, developing breakthrough chip technology with the potential to help shape the future of AI.
“If we want Britain to lead in AI, we need to back the technologies that sit underneath it. That’s how we’ll attract investment, create high-skilled jobs and ensure the UK remains a country that builds the future of AI, not just uses it.”
