Positron Raises $230M Series B to Challenge Nvidia's AI Chips

The semiconductor startup plans to use the capital to accelerate deployment of its high-speed memory chips for AI workloads.

Feb. 4, 2026 at 2:47am

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Semiconductor startup Positron has secured $230 million in Series B funding, with investors including Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund. Positron plans to use the capital to speed up deployment of its high-speed memory chips, which are critical components for the chips used in AI workloads. The funding comes as hyperscalers and AI firms seek alternatives to Nvidia's longstanding dominance in the market.

Why it matters

The investment in Positron reflects growing demand for chips beyond Nvidia's offerings, as well as Qatar's broader push to build out its AI infrastructure and position itself as a leading AI services hub in the Middle East. Positron's technology, which it claims can match the performance of Nvidia's H100 GPUs for less than a third of the power, could provide an attractive alternative for companies looking to reduce their reliance on Nvidia.

The details

Positron's Series B funding brings the three-year-old startup's total capital raised to just over $300 million. The company previously raised $75 million last year from investors including Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, DFJ Growth, Flume Ventures, and Resilience Reserve. Positron's first-generation chip, Atlas, is manufactured in Arizona and the company is focused on inference – the computing needed to run AI models for real-world applications – rather than training large language models.

  • Positron secured the $230 million Series B funding in February 2026.

The players

Positron

A semiconductor startup based in Reno, Nevada that is developing high-speed memory chips for AI workloads.

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA)

The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, which has been increasingly focused on building out AI infrastructure and positioning the country as a leading AI services hub in the Middle East.

Nvidia

The longstanding leader in the AI chip market, whose dominance hyperscalers and AI firms are seeking to reduce.

OpenAI

One of Nvidia's largest and most important customers, which has reportedly been unsatisfied with some of Nvidia's latest AI chips and has been seeking alternatives.

Brookfield Asset Management

The company that announced a $20 billion AI infrastructure joint venture with Qatar in September.

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What’s next

Positron plans to use the $230 million in Series B funding to accelerate the deployment of its high-speed memory chips for AI workloads.

The takeaway

Positron's $230 million Series B funding reflects the growing demand for AI chips beyond Nvidia's offerings, as well as Qatar's broader push to build out its AI infrastructure and position itself as a leading AI services hub in the Middle East. Positron's technology, which it claims can match the performance of Nvidia's H100 GPUs for less than a third of the power, could provide an attractive alternative for companies looking to reduce their reliance on Nvidia.