UK chip startup Olix raises $312M Series B for photonic AI accelerator that bypasses HBM bottleneck.
OLIX, a UK-based AI hardware company founded in 2024, has raised $312 million (£232 million) in Series B funding, achieving a valuation of $3.3 billion (£2.45 billion).
The startup is developing specialized inference chips—processors designed to accelerate distinct stages of AI model inference. These custom silicon components are engineered to be faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient than existing AI chips, with each specializing in a particular part of an AI model's reasoning process.
The Series B funding will support the delivery of OLIX's DX-1 chip to first customers by the second half of 2027, as well as the development of its broader custom silicon platform, including the manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure required for frontier inference hardware.
Investors in this round include Arm, Hudson River Trading, Fundomo, the UK Government's Sovereign AI venture fund, and Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, alongside existing investors who increased their commitments.
Speaking on the investment, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: "The future of AI will be built on chips that power models. Countries that build chips will build leverage. OLIX is exactly the kind of ambitious company we want to back through Sovereign AI. In just two years, it has established itself as one of the UK's most exciting AI startups, developing breakthrough chip technology with the potential to help shape the future of AI. If we want Britain to lead in AI, we need to back the technologies that sit underneath it. That's how we'll attract investment, create high-skilled jobs and ensure the UK remains a country that builds the future of AI, not just uses it."
The company has also appointed Matt Briers, formerly CFO of Wise for nine years, as Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, Professor Nick McKeown—recognized as a defining figure in modern networking and co-inventor of software-defined networking, OpenFlow, and P4—has been appointed to the board of directors.