Fractile raises over £500M at £5bn+ valuation for AI chips

Chips built for inference

Based in Bristol and London, Fractile designs chips for AI inference, the process of running an AI model. Oxford PhD Walter Goodwin founded the company in 2022. Its architecture keeps data directly on the chip, whereas standard chips must constantly move data between the processor and separate memory modules.

Fractile says this approach can run large language models up to a hundred times faster than existing hardware while cutting operating costs by 90 per cent. Its specialised chips are due to be ready for data centre deployment next year.

The valuation has climbed steeply. The $220m Series B, announced in May and led by Accel, Factorial Funds and Founders Fund, valued Fractile at around £820m.

A sovereign tech push

The round comes as the UK tries to take a leading position in parts of the AI stack and build sovereign capabilities in critical technologies, reducing reliance on fragile overseas supply chains.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan said Britain has produced some of the world's best scientific ideas only to see too much of the resulting technology, industry and wealth built elsewhere. He said that if AI is to serve the British people, the country needs to build more of the technology that powers it, calling Fractile an example of British ambition in faster, cheaper and more energy-efficient hardware.