Velaura AI valued at over $1B after funding round

Velaura AI, a Santa Clara-based chip designer that quietly pivoted from blockchain hardware to AI silicon, closed a $110 million Series V-A funding round on July 10, pushing its post-money valuation to $1.05B. The company just joined the unicorn club, and it did so by selling a surprisingly simple pitch: making AI chips that consume a lot less electricity. The round drew participation from GSBackers, MARA Holdings, Maverick Capital, Premji Invest, and Qualcomm Ventures. From Auradine to Velaura: a rebrand with a thesis The company was founded in 2022 under the name Auradine Inc. For its first few years, it built silicon with blockchain applications in mind. Then, in March 2026, it rebranded to Velaura AI, a move CEO Rajiv Khemani positioned as an alignment with the company’s deeper focus on energy-efficient computing across cloud and edge AI workloads. That same month, Velaura launched its flagship product: the Titan Core silicon design and IP platform. The company claims Titan Core can deliver up to 50% lower power consumption for AI accelerators, and it does so without requiring software changes or full system-on-chip redesigns. The technical secret sauce involves patented low-vo...