With a valuation of nearly $2 trillion, Nvidia stands as a dominant force in the AI hardware landscape. This dominance has made rivals in the AI computer chip market struggle to raise funds.
Despite this downfall, Hailo, an Israel-based AI chipmaker, has raised $120 million in the Series C extension round. At the same time, the company has launched the Hailo-10, a powerful AI accelerator designed to bring generative AI capabilities to edge devices.
The new funding round was led by current and new investors including the Zisapel family, Gil Agmon, Delek Motors, Alfred Akirov, DCLBA, Vasuki, OurCrowd, Talcar, Comasco, Automotive Equipment (AEV), and Poalim Equity. With this, the total funding raised by the company accounts for over $340 million and it is valued at $1.2 billion.
Hailo-10: GenAI accelerator
Founded in Tel Aviv in 2017 by Orr Danon, Avi Baum, Hadar Zeitlin, and Rami Feig, Hailo provides AI chips that enable data centre-class performance on edge devices in various sectors such as personal computing, automotive, security, industry 4.0, and retail.
The Hailo-10 accelerator enables users to run applications like chatbots, copilots, and content generation tools locally on their devices without relying on cloud-based services. This breakthrough technology addresses key concerns such as network connectivity, latency, privacy, and sustainability, making generative AI an integral part of users’ daily routines.
Among popular GenAI platforms, Hailo-10 is touted to be faster and more energy efficient than integrated neural processing unit (NPU) solutions. Early applications of Hailo-10 GenAI accelerators will be targeting PCs and automotive infotainment systems.
The company will begin shipping samples of the Hailo-10 GenAI accelerator in Q2 of 2024. Hailo has offices in the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan.
Competition ahead
Despite the technological advancements and strong financial backing, Hailo faces an uphill battle against industry giants such as Qualcomm, Arm, Intel, and AMD. The company needs to stand out by delivering superior performance, energy efficiency, and ease of integration. Also, it has to build a robust software ecosystem and get into strategic partnerships in target markets worldwide.
“The closing of our new funding round enables us to leverage all the exciting opportunities in our pipeline while setting the stage for our long-term future growth. Together with the introduction of our Hailo-10 GenAI accelerator, it strategically positions us to bring classic and generative AI to edge devices in ways that will significantly expand the reach and impact of this remarkable new technology,” said Hailo CEO and Co-Founder Orr Danon. “We designed Hailo-10 to seamlessly integrate GenAI capabilities into users’ daily lives, freeing users from cloud network constraints. This empowers them to utilise chatbots, copilots, and other emerging content generation tools with unparalleled flexibility and immediacy, enhancing productivity and enriching lives,” he emphasised.
