IFC makes first AI chip investment, invests in Quadric’s Series C round

Quadric, a semiconductor IP licensing company, has announced the second close of its Series C round led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. The transaction marks the institution’s first AI chip investment.

Other investors in the USD 46mn round are previous investors Pear VC, Uncork Capital and BEENEXT. Offline Ventures joined as a new investor.

Powerful AI cannot remain the exclusive domain of hyperscalers if emerging markets are going to close the digital divide. Quadric’s programmable architecture fundamentally changes the economics: SMEs in emerging markets can now deploy AI on devices they own, without the per-token cloud bills that price them out. That productivity gain directly levels the playing field between small businesses in emerging and developed markets. – Mohamed Eissa CIO, IFC

With the investment, Quadric will expand its support and go-to-market teams for existing customers in automotive, AI PCs and enterprise as well as incoming customers in humanoid robotics, wearables and networking.

This latest round of funding brings the total the company has raised to USD 90mn.