Naveen Rao, the former head of artificial intelligence at Databricks, is currently in discussions to raise an impressive $1 billion at a valuation of $5 billion for his new startup, Unconventional, Inc. This innovative company aims to develop a revolutionary type of computer, as confirmed by four individuals familiar with the ongoing negotiations.
In this funding round, Andreessen Horowitz has agreed to take the lead, while Lightspeed and Lux Capital are also set to participate in this significant investment. Despite our attempts to reach out for comments, none of these prominent venture capital firms have responded. Additionally, Bloomberg reported last month that Databricks is also considering investing in Rao's new venture.
Rao has already managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and plans to initiate the startup's development without waiting for the full $1 billion funding round to finalize. According to our sources, he intends to employ a funding strategy known as a “tranched” round, wherein he will raise the remaining capital in incremental installments.
While Rao declined to provide further comments, he did acknowledge his new startup on social media platform X last week. In his announcement, he confirmed the company's name and outlined his vision for the product: “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!”
Prior to launching Unconventional, Inc., Rao founded MosaicML in 2020, which focused on training and deploying large AI models. The company was acquired by Databricks in 2023 for a remarkable $1.3 billion. During its journey, MosaicML successfully raised $33.7 million from a variety of investors, including Lux Capital, DCVC, Playground Global, and Samsung Next, as reported by PitchBook.
Before his success with MosaicML, Rao co-founded Nervana Systems, a machine learning platform that was acquired by Intel Corp. in 2016 for reportedly over $400 million. Rao has an impressive background, having served as VP of AI at Databricks for more than two years. Databricks is currently valued at $100 billion and generates $4 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR). He left the company last month to concentrate on his new startup, as indicated on his LinkedIn profile and previous reports by Bloomberg.
According to our sources, Rao's vision for Unconventional, Inc. is set to compete directly with Nvidia by designing an innovative AI machine that integrates both custom silicon chips and server infrastructure. This ambitious approach could potentially reshape the landscape of AI technology and computing.
