AI does not run on hype. It runs on infrastructure. And infrastructure is where SambaNova Systems decided to play. Founded in 2017 by Rodrigo Liang, Kunle Olukotun, and Christopher Ré, SambaNova Systems was built on a simple premise that most people underestimated at the time. Training grabs headlines. Inference pays the bills. Rodrigo Liang, CEO and Co-Founder, brought 20+ years of semiconductor experience, including leading Oracle SPARC server and ASIC programs. Kunle Olukotun, Co-Founder and Chief Technologist, brought the architectural depth of a Stanford pioneer in multicore and domain specific systems. This was not a science project. It was a deliberate strike at the AI stack.
The company built its own Reconfigurable Dataflow Units, deployed through SN40 and SN50 systems inside SambaRack, then wrapped it all in SambaStack, SambaOrchestrator, and SambaCloud. Full stack control. Hardware to API. OpenAI compatible endpoints so enterprises do not have to rip and replace to move fast. When latency, governance, and tokens per watt actually matter, inference optimized stops being marketing copy and starts being operational leverage.
Capital noticed. On Feb 6, 2026, Reuters reported SambaNova Systems is in an oversubscribed Series E targeting more than $350M, led by Vista Equity Partners and co led by Intel. Intel is reportedly committing around $100M, with flexibility up to $150M, with terms still being finalized. When Vista leans in, it signals enterprise scale. When Intel steps in, it signals belief in the silicon strategy.
This follows a $676M Series D in April 2021 at a $5.1B valuation, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 with participation from Temasek, GIC, Intel Capital, BlackRock, GV, Walden International, and WRVI Capital. By 2021, total capital raised exceeded $1B. Wired later cited roughly $1.1B by late 2025. This is not incremental funding. This is conviction capital backing a thesis about where AI economics are heading.
And the thesis is clear. Enterprises and sovereign AI customers need performance without surrendering control. Governments want models running within their borders. CFOs want throughput without runaway energy costs. Developers want compatibility without friction.
SambaNova Systems is positioning itself as the backbone for that reality, powering sovereign AI providers across Australia, Europe, and the UK, while partnering with companies like Hume AI and Canvass Analytics to push vertical workflows into production environments.
The real takeaway is not the $350M headline. It is the pattern. Build proprietary silicon. Own the stack. Optimize for inference where value is captured. Attract long horizon investors who understand infrastructure cycles. Then scale into the parts of AI that enterprises cannot afford to get wrong.
