Naveen Rao's New AI Hardware Startup Eyes $5B Valuation with a16z Backing

Naveen Rao, formerly head of artificial intelligence at Databricks, is reportedly in discussions to secure $1 billion in funding for his nascent startup, Unconventional, Inc. The company, focused on developing an innovative computing architecture, is aiming for a $5 billion valuation, according to four sources familiar with the ongoing talks.

Rao has already amassed hundreds of millions of dollars and intends to initiate the startup's operations without waiting for the full $1 billion round to conclude. Instead, he plans to raise the remaining capital in successive installments, a common financing strategy known as a "tranched" round.

Our sources indicate that Rao's ambitious vision for Unconventional, Inc. is to directly compete with Nvidia by engineering a novel AI machine that integrates both custom-designed silicon chips and dedicated server infrastructure.