Oxford AI chip startup raises $125m to tackle data centre power crunch
Oxford-based chip startup Salience Labs has raised $125m (£94m) from investors, including AMD and Intel, as the race to build AI data centres puts growing pressure on electricity supplies. The funding round, led by Bullhound Capital, is set to help the British firm scale production of its photonic chips, which use light rather than electrical [...]
Oxford-based AI chip startup Salience Labs has secured $125 million in funding from investors, including AMD and Intel, to address the growing demand for energy in AI data centers. Led by Bullhound Capital, the Series B round also saw participation from Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading, and the British Business Bank.
The funding will enable Salience to scale production of its photonic chips, which use light to transfer data between computing systems, reducing the energy consumption required for data center operations. Unlike traditional networking equipment, Salience's optical circuit switching technology aims to decrease power usage and delays.
CEO and co-founder Vaysh Kewada emphasized the critical role OCS will play in AI datacenter networking, stating that high-performance optical switches are essential for meeting the demands of AI workloads. The investment arrives at a time when Britain's aspirations to become a global AI hub are challenged by high electricity costs and grid access bottlenecks.
The UK's electricity connection queue has more than tripled from 41 gigawatts to 125 gigawatts between November 2024 and June 2025, prompting the regulator to propose stricter requirements for data center developers. Salience's funding also reflects the increasing interest in British semiconductor companies developing infrastructure to support AI, as opposed to just the AI models themselves.
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