Xcena, a South Korean AI semiconductor startup formerly operating under the name MetisX, has finalized a KRW 150 billion(approximately $103 million) Series B funding round — surpassing its original 100 billion won target after the raise was oversubscribed by investors eager to gain early footholds in the country’s fast-growing AI chip sector.
Atinum Investment led the round, with existing financial backers IMM Investment and LB Investment among those committing follow-on capital, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Founded in 2022, Xcena is a fabless chipmaker focused on developing compute-in-memory chips designed to accelerate data transfer between CPUs, GPU accelerators, and memory modules. The company unveiled its flagship next-generation memory chip, the MX1, last year.
The MX1 is built on the Compute Express Link (CXL) standard and addresses a core bottleneck in modern AI infrastructure: the difficulty CPUs and GPUs face when handling large-scale data access. By processing data at the memory level, the chip is positioned as a successor to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and is widely seen as a solution for maximizing the efficiency of AI and database servers.
Investors cited Xcena’s deep talent bench and rapid pace of development as key factors driving their conviction. Just three years after its founding, the company has already delivered a working chip and recently began supplying MX1 samples to global big tech firms for proof-of-concept testing. Axina plans to move into mass production of the MX1 this year, with commercial revenues targeted for 2026.
The company’s leadership team draws heavily from Korea’s semiconductor establishment. CEO Kim Jin-young previously held roles at both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, where he was notably the youngest executive in the company’s history before leaving to found Xcena. The company’s CTO and CPO are also SK Hynix alumni.
The oversubscription reflects a broader shift in Korean venture capital toward deep tech and AI infrastructure. The government’s so-called “K-Nvidia” initiative — a national program aimed at cultivating domestic AI chip champions — has helped direct significant institutional capital into the sector, intensifying competition among investors to secure stakes in promising companies before valuations climb further.
That dynamic has already pushed Xcena’s valuation sharply higher. The company is expected to be valued at approximately 700 billion won in the Series B round — roughly three times the 250 billion won valuation it commanded during its 60 billion won Series A raise in May 2024.
