British Nvidia chipmaker Graphcore is facing difficulties such as layoffs and expanding losses, and plans to raise funds to survive.

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen OC_Formula for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, Oct. 6 (Xinhua)-- AI chipmaker Graphcore, widely regarded as the "British Nvidia", said that after a series of losses, the company needs to raise funds to ensure continued operation, according to Bloomberg on Thursday.

▲ shows Graphcore China's official website reported that Graphcore submitted 2022 accounting documents to UK authorities on Wednesday, which revealed that the company was in negotiations with potential investors, but had not yet reached an agreement.

Currently, the company's pre-tax loss has increased by 11% compared with the same period last year, to $204.6 million (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 1.496 billion yuan), year-end cash and short-term investments of $157 million (currently about 1.148 billion yuan).

In addition, the company closed offices in Norway, Japan and South Korea, reducing the number of employees from 631 to 494 by the end of last year, and revenue fell 46%. The decline in revenue is said to be due to massive order delays.

Graphcore, founded in 2016, was considered one of the "most promising" start-ups in the UK when it raised capital at a valuation of $2.8 billion (currently about 20.468 billion yuan) two years ago. The company set up its Chinese headquarters in Beijing in 2019 and decided on the Chinese name "Xianwei".

CTOnews.com previously reported that it raised 158 million pounds (currently about 1.405 billion yuan) from investors such as Microsoft and BMW in 2018. In 2020, the company raised $222 million in financing to challenge competitors such as Nvidia and Intel.

Nigel Toon, the company's co-founder, said the deterioration in the economic environment last year had hurt hardware sales. The Sunday Times also reported earlier this year that venture capital firm Sequoia Capital wrote down the value of his Graphcore stake to zero.