San Francisco semiconductor startup Volantis raised $88 million to develop laser-based technology connecting AI chips to memory, potentially enabling 220 memory chips per GPU compared to current limits of 8. The company uses VCSELs, tiny lasers already found in iPhones, to eliminate bandwidth constraints and plans to deliver chips next year for AI applications.
Wealthy family offices made fewer direct investments in September, but continued backing bold bets in emerging technologies. John Arnold and John Doerr's firms led a $135 million funding round for Mazama Energy, a geothermal startup, while Stanley Druckenmiller's office invested in semiconductor manufacturing and brain implant technology.