Olix Raises $312 Million at $3.3 Billion Valuation to Build Next-Generation AI Inference Chips
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Olix Secures $312 Million to Scale AI Chip Platform
London-based AI chip startup Olix has raised $312 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $3.3 billion—more than triple its valuation of just over $1 billion in February 2026.
The round was led by Fundomo, with participation from Arm, Hudson River Trading, and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, who invested as an angel investor.
Existing investors Hummingbird Ventures, Crane, Plural, Creandum, Phoenix Court, and Transition also increased their investments.
Building an Alternative to General-Purpose AI Chips
Founded in 2024 by James Dacombe, Olix is developing a specialized AI inference platform designed to improve performance and energy efficiency for large AI models.
Instead of relying on a single general-purpose processor, the company's X-1 platform distributes AI inference workloads across multiple specialized chips, each optimized for specific tasks.
Its first processor, DX-1, is a decode accelerator built for the output generation stage of large language models. According to Olix, the chip uses optical interconnect technology, transmitting data using light instead of traditional copper connections to reduce latency and lower power consumption.
The company says the architecture is designed to scale from 100-billion-parameter models to future systems exceeding 10 trillion parameters.
Experienced Leadership and Product Roadmap
Alongside the funding announcement, Olix appointed networking pioneer Nick McKeown to its board of directors. McKeown is known for his work on OpenFlow, P4, and software-defined networking, and previously co-founded Nicira and Barefoot Networks.
The company also appointed Matt Briers, former CFO of Wise, as Chief Financial Officer. Briers previously led Wise through its 2021 direct listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Olix currently employs more than 140 people across London, Bristol, Toronto, Austin, and San Francisco.
The new funding will support:
Development of the X-1 AI inference platform
Manufacturing expansion
Increased chip production capacity
Customer deployments of the DX-1 platform, expected in the second half of 2027
