Companies House records show three classes of Series C shares issued since September, with the top tranche priced at about 5.2 times the Series B price set in May. The company has not announced the round.
Fractile, a UK developer of AI inference chips, has raised a large private round without announcing it. Its filings tell the story.
Share allotment filings at Companies House, dated Oct. 15 and Oct. 28, show Fractile issued about £577 million of Series C preferred shares in three classes between Sept. 9 and Oct. 23, according to a count by The Cap Table. Sifted, reading the same filings, put the total at £540 million.
The largest, C-3, comprised 270,045 shares at £1,452.35 each, about £392 million, issued in tranches through Oct. 23. The C-1 class, 184,412 shares at £801.54, raised about £148 million on Sept. 11. The C-2 class, 52,877 shares at £707.25, raised about £37 million the same day.
The step-up
Fractile issued Series B-1 shares on May 15 at £278.37 each. The top Series C price is about 5.2 times that, in roughly five months.
At the C-3 price, the 2,644,736 shares in issue are worth about £3.84 billion, by our arithmetic. That figure excludes options and any unissued shares, so it is not a post-money valuation, and Fractile has not disclosed one.
Two prices in one round
The more unusual feature is the spread inside the round. Investors in the C-1 and C-2 classes paid about 55% and 49% of the C-3 price. Rounds are sometimes structured this way to reward earlier commitments or investors who take on different terms, and the filings do not say why.
The filings also do not name the investors.
Signal or structure?
The bullish reading: a sharp step-up in a short period shows strong demand for AI chip challengers, even in a week when listed chip stocks sold off.
The cautious reading: the headline price applies to only part of the round, and the lower tranches suggest some investors secured significantly better terms than the C-3 price implies.
What to watch
Any announcement from Fractile naming investors or a valuation, and further allotment filings that would show whether the round is still open.