South Korean AI chip startup Rebellions raises $400 million ahead of IPO

South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) chip startup Rebellions has raised $400 million in fresh funding ahead of its planned public listing.

The funding round was led by Mirae Asset Financial Group and the Korea National Growth Fund, valuing the company at approximately $2.34 billion, per a report by CNBC on Monday.

The state-backed Korea National Growth Fund contributed about $165 million in the latest round, marking the government’s first direct investment under its K-Nvidia initiative.


Rebellions will use the proceeds to expand its operations into the United States, chief executive Sunghyun Park told CNBC on Monday as it looks to tap into the world’s largest market for AI computing.

IPO ahead

Headquartered in South Korea and operating in the United States, the company is already working with customers across regions, including Asia and the Middle East, and is now targeting broader global expansion.

The latest funding comes as the company prepares for an initial public offering (IPO), although a timeline for the listing has not yet been disclosed.

Rebellions said it is entering a new phase of growth after raising $650 million over the past six months, accounting for more than 75% of its total funding to date.

The startup has already attracted backing from major industry players. Last year, Samsung Electronics invested in Rebellions as part of a partnership to commercialise its AI chip, Rebel. Samsung also manufactured the Rebellions’ semiconductor using its advanced 4-nanometre process technology.

Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures, Arm (UK), KT, Samsung, SK Hynix, and SK Telecom are some of the prominent investors.

AI inference as the differentiator

Founded in 2020, Rebellions develops specialised semiconductors designed for AI inference, the stage where trained models generate real-time outputs. This segment is becoming increasingly important as demand for deploying AI applications at scale grows.

The startup positions itself as a more energy-efficient alternative to incumbent players, focussing on low-latency, high-performance chips for data centres. Its product lineup includes earlier chips such as Atom, already deployed commercially, and its newer Rebel chip, which targets large language model (LLM) workloads.

Competing with Nvidia, AMD

The company competes with global chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD, as well as emerging AI hardware startups including Cerebras and Groq.

Rebellions has raised funds through multiple rounds over the past few years, including a $250 million round in 2025 that valued it at $1.4 billion.