DEEPX is a South Korean on-device AI chip (NPU or Neural Processing Unit) startup that manufactures hardware and software for various AI applications in electronic devices. The company announced this week that it had raised $80 million (KRW108.5 billion) in a Series C round at a valuation of $529 million (KRW723 billion), a more than by eight compared to its Series B funding, or approximately $15 million. in 2021.
The Series C funding, which brings the total raise to approximately $95 million, will be dedicated to mass production of the startup’s inaugural products – DX-V1, DX-V3, DX-M1 and DX-H1 – in late 2024 for worldwide distribution. The startup will also use the new capital to accelerate the development and launch of its next generation of large language model (LLM) on-device solutions.
DEEPX was founded in 2018 by CEO Lokwon Kim, who previously worked at Apple, Cisco Systems, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center and Broadcom.
The market size of global edge AI, also known as on-device AI, is expected to reach $107.47 billion by 2029, up from $11.98 billion in 2021, according to a recent report. “The on-device AI market, excluding edge servers, requires the implementation of AI capabilities, bypassing servers or the cloud,” Kim told TechCrunch. “The (on-device AI market) is growing through computer vision capabilities such as facial and voice recognition, smart mobility, robotics, Internet of Things and physical security systems.”
Kim said that if mass production begins this year, potential customers such as finished product manufacturers could bring their products to market with DEEPX’s AI chips in 2025.
DEEPX, which has about 65 employees, is not the only company that has developed AI chip solutions. The Korean company competes with Hailo, which landed $120 million in funding last month; SiMa.ai, which closed with $70 million, also in April; and Axelera, a Belgian AI chip startup that secured $27 million in 2022.
Kim said his company’s differentiators include cost-effectiveness, power consumption efficiency and All-in-4 AI Total Solution, a comprehensive solution for various AI applications. Its all-in-4 AI solutions include: DX-V1 and DX-V3, designed for vision systems in home appliances, surveillance camera systems, robot vision and drones; as well as the DX-M1 and DX-H1, designed for AI computing enclosures, AI servers, smart factories and AI booster chips. DEEPX now has more than 259 patents pending in the United States, China and South Korea, Kim said.
“Nvidia’s GPGPU-based solutions are most cost-effective for large language model services such as ChatGPT; the total power consumed by the operation of GPUs has reached levels exceeding the electrical energy of an entire country,” Kim said. “This collaborative operating technology between server-scale AI and large on-device AI models is expected to significantly reduce energy consumption and costs compared to relying solely on data centers.”
The startup does not yet have any customers but is collaborating with more than 100 potential customers and strategic partners, such as Hyundai Kia Motors Robotics Lab and Korean IT company POSCO DX, to test the capabilities of DEEPX’s AI chip.
SkyLake Equity Partners, a South Korean technology-focused private equity firm, led the latest investment, with participation from BNW Investments, a Korean private equity firm founded by the former chairman of Samsung LED and the memory chip unit from Samsung Electronics. AJU IB and former backer Timefolio Asset Management also participated in this round.
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