AI research startup Flapping Airplanes Inc. has secured $1 billion in a Series A funding round, reaching a valuation of $6 billion. The company, founded one year ago, has yet to release a commercial product. Total investment in the startup has now reached $1.18 billion.
The round was co-led by Index Ventures Management and Lux Capital Management. Mark Xu from Index Ventures is joining the board of directors. Previous investors, including Sequoia Capital Operations and GV Management Co., participated in this round after contributing to the $180 million seed round in January.
Other institutional backers include Kleiner Perkins, Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, Jump Trading Group, XTX Ventures, and Nvidia Corp. The startup currently employs a team of several dozen people based in San Francisco.
The company is developing AI models designed to operate with significantly less data than current systems. Its primary focus during the first year was creating new primitives for graphics processing units, including a megakernel framework that allows programs to run on a GPU as a single kernel.
Co-founders include CEO Ben Spector, Asher Spector, and Aidan Smith. The team aims to improve AI efficiency for sectors such as robotics, trading, and life sciences. According to reports, the company's valuation has increased approximately fourfold since its seed round nine months ago.
