SambaNova Secures $1 Billion Funding at $11 Billion Valuation

CEO Rodrigo Liang confirmed that while the first close is complete, additional investors are expected to join in the coming weeks. The funding follows the February launch of the SN50 chip and a $350 million Series E round. Despite historical reports of acquisition interest from Intel—which remains a backer and partner—Liang maintains that the company is focused on its current momentum, leaving a potential public offering as a long-term goal.

The company’s strategy hinges on high-performance inference, specifically targeting large-scale models that require significant compute power. A major validator for this approach is JPMorgan Chase, which has selected SambaNova’s SN40L and SN50 systems to power secure, on-premises AI infrastructure. Liang views this as a bellwether for the banking sector, suggesting that financial institutions are increasingly wary of total reliance on public cloud providers for sensitive data processing.

SambaNova intends to deploy the new capital to fortify its supply chain, a necessity driven by mounting demand for its hardware. With shipping for the SN50 slated for the second half of 2026, the company is positioning itself as a primary supplier for sovereign clouds and enterprise-grade private infrastructure. Current clients include Saudi Aramco and various Japanese firms, alongside a diverse group of participants in this latest round, including T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, and the Qatar Investment Authority.