Nuvacore, a six-month-old semiconductor startup backed by Sequoia Capital, is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars at an approximately $2.5 billion valuation to develop a central processing unit for data centers. The fundraising remains open, so its size and valuation could change; The Information previously reported that the company was seeking at least $200 million. Founded by Gerard Williams, John Bruno and Ram Srinivasan, the San Jose-based company plans to design its processor's core functionality before selecting an architecture, potentially avoiding constraints associated with Intel and Advanced Micro Devices' x86 technology or Arm-based designs. Williams previously worked at Apple and founded Nuvia, which Qualcomm acquired for $1.4 billion in 2021. CPU demand is rising as AI systems require processors to coordinate specialized chips and run autonomous agents. Semiconductor startups attracted about $10.7 billion in investment during the first five months of 2026, compared with $12.2 billion globally in all of 2025. Nvidia expects its Vera CPU to generate $20 billion in sales during the fiscal year ending in January.