AI Visionary Naveen Rao’s Unconventional, Inc. Secures $1B Funding, Eyes $5B Valuation for Brain-Scale Hardware
AI Visionary Naveen Rao’s Unconventional, Inc. Secures $1B Funding, Eyes $5B Valuation for Brain-Scale Hardware
Naveen Rao, a highly respected figure in artificial intelligence, is poised to make a significant impact with his new startup, Unconventional, Inc. The company is reportedly in advanced talks to raise a monumental $1 billion in funding, targeting an impressive $5 billion valuation. Industry sources confirm that venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has agreed to lead the investment, with Lightspeed and Lux Capital also participating in the high-profile round.
Rao, who previously led AI at Databricks and founded successful ventures like MosaicML (acquired by Databricks for $1.3 billion) and Nervana Systems (acquired by Intel), publicly confirmed the launch of Unconventional, Inc. last week on X (formerly Twitter). He articulated the startup’s ambitious mission: “rethinking the foundations of a computer to build a new substrate for intelligence that is as efficient as biology. Brain Scale Efficiency without the biological baggage!”
Unconventional, Inc. aims to challenge the status quo by designing a novel AI machine that integrates both custom silicon chips and advanced server infrastructure, positioning itself as a direct competitor to Nvidia. Rao has already secured hundreds of millions in initial capital and plans to adopt a tranched funding approach to expedite development, raising the remaining funds in installments. Databricks is also reported to be investing in Rao’s latest venture.
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