Microchips maker Graphcore today said it was mulling a stock-market float after raising a fresh £116 million from investors.
The funding round, which values the company at £1.5 billion, attracted new backers, including fund management giant Baillie Gifford as well as Mayfair Equity Partners and M&G Investments. Graphcore hired Goldman Sachs to bring in the new investors.
Chief executive Nigel Toon, left, said there was no timetable for an IPO but admitted that at some point the company’s backers would want an exit.
Toon, who has previously been damning about UK investor attitudes towards technology, refused to say if a float would take place in London or the US.
“These are long-term backers that typically invest in public markets. There will be an IPO further down the line but no timetable is in place,” he said.
Toon, who founded the company in 2016, said Graphcore would use the fresh capital to improve and develop chips designed for artificial intelligence software.
Demand for high-powered chips is booming as tech giants look to fill data centres with artificial intelligence-capable hardware. Chips designed by Graphcore are already being used by Microsoft for its cloud business.
Troubled Revolut also raised a fresh £387 million, making it the UK’s most valuable tech start-up.
The online lender said it had raised the money from a consortium led by US fund Technology Crossover Venture, early-stage backers of Airbnb, Netflix and Spotify. Revolut has faced allegations about a cutthroat working culture and poor treatment of some customers.
