Hailo, an AI chipmaker delivering
unprecedented performance to edge devices, today
announced it has raised
$60 million in Series B funding. The round, led by existing
investors, was joined by key strategic investors including ABB Technology
Ventures (ATV) - the strategic VC arm of ABB, a global leader in industrial
automation and robotics; NEC Corporation - a leader in the integration of IT
and network technologies; and
London-based VC firm Latitude Ventures. The funding will be used by Hailo to bolster the ongoing global rollout of
its breakthrough Hailo-8 Deep Learning chip and to reach new markets and
industries worldwide.
"We are very impressed with Hailo's product and team
and believe their novel deep learning processor will help advance different
Industry 4.0 applications," said Kurt Kaltenegger, Head of ABB Technology
Ventures. "We look forward to combining Hailo's solution with our cutting-edge
industrial technology as an important piece of the puzzle to drive the digital
transformation of industries."
"Hailo's
technology is a leading-edge solution for high-performance, low power, and
cost-effective processing at the edge," said Hiroto Sugahara, General Manager
of Corporate Technology Division, NEC Corporation. "Hailo's technology
will help us dive even deeper into the intelligent video analytics market. We
are excited to be a strategic investor in the company and look forward to
incorporating Hailo's technology into our next generation edge-based products."
The Series B round brings Hailo's total funding to $88 million. It comes on
the heels of the launch of Hailo-8, the company's industry-leading Deep Learning
processor for edge devices. With
a totally reimagined chip architecture that relies on the core properties of
neural networks, Hailo's chip empowers devices to perform sophisticated Deep Learning
applications that could previously run only on the cloud. The Hailo-8 innovative Structure-Defined
Dataflow Architecture translates
into higher
performance, lower power, and minimal latency, enabling more privacy and better performance for smart
devices operating at the edge,
including partially autonomous vehicles, smart cameras, smartphones, drones and
AR/VR platforms. The Hailo-8 features up to 26 tera operations per
second (TOPS) and significantly outperforms all
other edge processors with its small size, high performance, and low
power consumption.
"Hailo is
poised to become a defining player in the rapidly emerging market for AI
processors," said Julian Rowe, Partner at Latitude Ventures. "Their Deep
Learning edge chip can be disruptive to so many sectors today, while the new,
innovative use cases Hailo's chips can unlock are just starting to reveal
themselves. We're thrilled to join the team for what lies ahead."
"Hailo's Deep
Learning chip is a real gamechanger in industries such as automotive, industry
4.0, robotics, smart cities, and many more," said Hailo Chairman Zohar Zisapel.
"A new age of AI chips means a new age of computing capabilities at the edge,
and we are excited to lead this transformation."
"This immense vote of
confidence from our new strategic and financial investors, along with existing
ones, is a testimony to our breakthrough innovation and market potential," said
Orr Danon, CEO and Co-Founder of Hailo. "The new funding will help us expedite
the deployment of new levels of edge computing capabilities in smart devices
and intelligent industries around the world, including areas such as mobility,
smart cities, industrial automation, smart retail and beyond."