South Korean AI semiconductor startup Rebellions has raised $50 million; while cryptocurrency exchange FTX has launched its services in Japan.
Temasek-backed Pavilion invests in S Korea’s Rebellions
Rebellions, an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor startup, has announced raising $50 million in a Series A round backed by Pavilion Capital, a Temasek-backed venture capital investor.
The Series A round, which was oversubscribed from the initial target of around $40 million, was also participated by Korean Development Bank, SV Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Mirae Asset Ventures, IMM Investment, KB Investment, and KT Investment.
Rebellions said it will use the fresh capital to mass-produce ATOM, its second AI chip prototype that wil be used in enterprise servers. The startup also seeks to double its headcount to 100 and open a US office later this year.
The company’s first chip, named ION, was released in November 2021. Rebellions claims that the said chip improves trading speeds and reduces latencies. On its website, Rebellions said it is building AI accelerators by bi-directionally bridging the gap between underlying silicon architectures and deep learning algorithms.
Temasek-backed crypto exchange FTX launches in Japan
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by Singapore state investor Temasek, has officially launched its services in Japan, the world’s biggest market for Bitcoin.
FTX, which raised $420 million from Temasek, Sequoia Capital, and Sea Capital in October 2021, established its presence in Japan by acquiring Quoine Corporation, later renamed FTX Japan.
Bahamas-based FTX is the owner and operator of FTX.com, a crypto platform that caters to a wide customer base, including retail and institutional investors outside the United States.
FTX offers derivatives, options and volatility products, tokenised stocks, an over-the-counter (OTC) desk, and trading on leverage, which is the use of borrowed funds to amplify trades, among others. As one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges, the firm competes with the likes of Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and KuCoin.