Intel Spinout Articul8 Raises Majority of $70 Million Round at $500 Million Valuation

Articul8, an enterprise artificial intelligence company spun out of Intel in early 2024, has raised more than half of a planned $70 million Series B funding round at a $500 million pre-money valuation, according to its chief executive. The company is seeking to capitalize on the growing demand for AI systems in highly regulated industries.

The Series B round is being completed in two stages, with the first instalment led by Spain-based Adara Ventures, said Articul8 founder and CEO Arun K. Subramaniyan in an interview. While Subramaniyan declined to disclose the size of the initial tranche, he said the company expects to close the whole round in the first quarter of this year.

The valuation represents a significant jump from Articul8’s $100 million post-money valuation following its January 2024 Series A round, reflecting roughly a fivefold increase. Since then, the Santa Clara–based company says it has surpassed $90 million in total contract value from 29 paying customers, including Hitachi Energy, Amazon Web Services, Franklin Templeton, and Intel.

Subramaniyan told TechCrunch that Articul8 was not actively seeking capital out of necessity, noting that the company has become revenue-positive following several large enterprise contracts.

“We are not cash-strapped,” he said.

According to Subramaniyan, Articul8 expects to end the year with annual recurring revenue slightly above $57 million, with approximately 45%-50% of that revenue already recognized.

Articul8 focuses on building customized AI systems that run directly within a customer’s own IT infrastructure, rather than relying on shared, general-purpose models hosted in the cloud. Instead of offering standalone models, the company delivers AI-powered software applications and agents tailored to specific business workflows. Its primary customers operate in regulated sectors such as energy, manufacturing, aerospace, financial services, and semiconductors, where precision, transparency, and data control are critical.

Articul8’s knowledge graph view Image Credits: Articul8

“Our competition is pretty much everybody,” Subramaniyan said. “But today, the main competitors are the cloud providers, because they’ve realized their general-purpose offerings are becoming commodities.”

He added that many enterprise customers prefer specialized systems that deliver predictable outcomes and clear audit trails—requirements that are often difficult to meet with widely used cloud-based models.

Articul8 plans to allocate the Series B proceeds primarily to expand research and product development and to accelerate international growth, particularly in Europe and parts of Asia.

Adara Ventures’ involvement is expected to support the company’s European expansion, Subramaniyan said, noting that the European Investment Fund backs the Madrid-based firm’s energy fund. Articul8 is also scaling its presence in markets such as Japan and South Korea, where it has begun working with major enterprise clients.

India-based Aditya Birla Ventures also participated in the ongoing funding round, Subramaniyan said.

The company collaborates with major technology firms, including Nvidia and Google Cloud. Amazon Web Services serves both as a customer and, in some cases, a deployment partner.

Articul8 currently employs 75 people, with roughly 80% of staff focused on research and development. Its teams are distributed across the United States, Brazil, and India.