AI solutions provider SambaNova is exploring a sale, having struggled to complete a fundraising round, the Information has reported.

Citing people familiar with the situation, the report added that SambaNova has hired an investment firm to oversee the sale, but noted that discussions were still ongoing and the company could still opt not to move forward with a deal.

The company was valued at $5 billion in 2021 and, since its inception, has raised more than $1.1bn in funding from investors, including GV, Intel Capital, BlackRock, and SoftBank Vision Fund. However, the news outlet cited a report from Caplight that said BlackRock has cut the value of its SambaNova shares by 17 percent, valuing the company at $2.4bn.

SambaNova did not respond to the Information’s request for comment regarding a potential sale, with a spokesperson saying “the company is always evaluating strategic opportunities that support their mission and stakeholders.”

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, SambaNova previously focused on training workloads, but pivoted earlier this year to being an AI cloud services provider. Its Suite product is touted as an on-prem or cloud-based offering that allows companies to train their own generative AI models based on popular foundation models.

The company first unveiled its SambaNova Cloud in September 2024. It provides cloud-based AI inference services using the company’s SN40L AI chip, launched in September 2023 and capable of running models with up to five trillion parameters.

If SambaNova was to pursue a sale, it would be added to the roster of chip startups that had been acquired in the last 12 months.

In October of this year, Meta announced it had acquired RISC-V chip startup Rivos for an undisclosed amount, following reports that the startup was looking to raise $500 million at a valuation of $2 billion. Six months prior, South Korean chip startup FuriosaAI turned down an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta.

In March 2025, SoftBank announced it would be acquiring Ampere Computing for $6.5bn, having purchased struggling AI chip company Graphcore the previous July.