Hailo Technologies Ltd, an Israel-based chipmaker, has raised $120 million in fresh funding and introduced the Hailo-10, a powerful AI accelerator designed to bring generative AI capabilities to edge devices. The company's total funding now exceeds $340 million, and values the company at $1.2 billion.
Founded in 2017, Hailo provides AI chips that enable data center-class performance on edge devices in various sectors such as personal computing, automotive, security, industry 4.0, and retail.
The Hailo-10 accelerator enables users to run applications like chatbots, copilots, and content generation tools locally on their devices without relying on cloud-based services. This breakthrough technology addresses key concerns such as network connectivity, latency, privacy, and sustainability, making generative AI an integral part of users' daily routines.
The funding round was led by current and new investors, including the Zisapel family, Gil Agmon, Delek Motors, Alfred Akirov, DCLBA, Vasuki, OurCrowd, Talcar, Comasco, Automotive Equipment (AEV), and Poalim Equity.
Hailo CEO and Co-Founder Orr Danon emphasized the strategic importance of the funding round and the Hailo-10 launch, stating, "Together with the introduction of our Hailo-10 GenAI accelerator, it strategically positions us to bring classic and generative AI to edge devices in ways that will significantly expand the reach and impact of this remarkable new technology."
The Hailo-10 accelerator boasts impressive performance metrics, capable of running large language models like Llama2-7B at up to 10 tokens per second while consuming less than 5 watts of power. It can also process popular image generation models like Stable Diffusion 2.1 in under 5 seconds within the same ultra-low power envelope. With a maximum performance of 40 TOPS (tera operations per second), Hailo-10 outperforms integrated neural processing unit solutions and delivers at least twice the performance at half the power of Intel's Core Ultra NPU.
Despite its technological advancements and strong financial backing, Hailo faces an uphill battle against industry giants such as Qualcomm, Arm, Intel, and AMD. These established players have deep pockets, extensive market reach, and long-standing relationships with key customers and partners. To succeed, Hailo will need to differentiate itself through superior performance, energy efficiency, and ease of integration, while also building a robust software ecosystem and forging strategic partnerships in target markets.
Initially targeting personal computers and automotive infotainment systems, the Hailo-10 accelerator aims to empower current and future CPUs that struggle to power the increasingly standard AI features. Hailo plans to begin shipping samples of the Hailo-10 in Q2 of 2024.