'We've placed our bet on RISC-V': how a quartet of chip engineers left Intel and founded a startup that wants to replace Arm by RISC-V

(Image credit: RISC-V)

AheadComputing has raised $21.5M to develop a 64-bit RISC-V microprocessor
Led by ex-Intel engineers, it sees RISC-V disrupting x86 and Arm dominance
The company plans rapid growth, focusing on licensing, AI, cloud, and mobile

A startup created in 2024 by former Intel engineers is betting on RISC-V becoming the dominant computing architecture of the future.

Portland, Oregon based AheadComputing has raised $21.5 million in seed funding led by Eclipse, with participation from Jim Keller. The veteran chip designer is the mastermind behind AMD's Zen architecture and Tesla's original self-driving chip, and is currently the CEO of Tenstorrent, one of our 10 hottest AI hardware companies to follow in 2025.

AheadComputing believes that "everyone deserves a better computer" and that the shift away from proprietary architectures is inevitable. It plans to develop 64-bit RISC-V microprocessor architecture and "push the boundaries of what's possible in computing".

Taking a leaf from Arm's playbook

CEO Debbie Marr, who previously served as an Intel Fellow and chief architect of the Advanced Architecture Development Group, co-founded the company with senior engineers Jonathan Pearce, Srikanth Srinivasan, and Mark Dechene.

She says “The current computing ecosystem is in disarray; the industry is undergoing a major transformation, fueled by emerging market leaders and disruptive technologies. As the founders of AheadComputing, we see chaos as an opportunity and believe our team possesses unique expertise to help create a new and improved ecosystem for the future.”

While x86 and Arm have dominated computing for decades, AheadComputing believes RISC-V’s open architecture, flexibility, and cost advantages will eventually make it the preferred choice. It could be a sound bet if rumors that Arm is looking to manufacture its own chips come to pass. AheadComputing plans to operate under an IP licensing model, similar to Arm’s approach.

While the industry is investing heavily in data-parallel AI accelerators, Marr argues that per-core performance remains an overlooked yet crucial part of computing. “The opportunity exists today to enhance per-core performance, which we consider the cornerstone of multi-processor system efficiency,” she said.

The company has grown from its four founders to a team of 40 and is expanding rapidly. The seed funding will be used to hire additional engineers and develop core IP. The startup is looking for strategic partners to accelerate its push into cloud computing, AI, and mobile markets.

Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.