FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) -Nvidia-backed Reflection AI is raising around $1 billion in a financing that will value the startup at up to $5.5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The round could value Reflection between $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion, including the new investment, FT added.
The announcement could potentially mark a nearly 10-fold valuation jump merely six months after the company's previous external fundraising, where it was valued at $545 million, according to PitchBook data.
Startups leveraging artificial intelligence continue to attract investor capital, with the nascent technology even sparking a multi-billion-dollar race for infrastructure build across Big Tech companies.
Nvidia's venture capital arm would invest at least $250 million, the report added. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia and Yuri Milner's DST Global are also participating in the round.
Founded in 2024 by former Google-backed DeepMind researchers Misha Laskin and Ioannis Antonoglou, Reflection develops tools that automate coding, a highly valuable use case of AI.
The latest financing also comes amid the bidding war across Silicon Valley sparked by AI talent like Laskin and Antonoglou, with Meta offering salaries and signing bonuses that liken those of professional athletes.
(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
