Naveen Rao, the former head of artificial intelligence at Databricks, is reportedly in advanced discussions to secure $1 billion in funding for his new venture, Unconventional, Inc. The startup aims for a valuation of $5 billion and is focused on developing a groundbreaking new type of computer. Sources familiar with the negotiations indicate that Andreessen Horowitz has committed to leading this significant investment round, with additional participation from Lightspeed and Lux Capital. Interestingly, Bloomberg had previously reported that Databricks, Rao's former employer, is also slated to invest in Unconventional, Inc.

Rao has already managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and intends to commence operations without waiting for the entire $1 billion funding round to close. He plans to acquire the remaining capital through a series of installments, a fundraising strategy known as a "tranched" round. While Rao declined to comment directly on these developments, he publicly confirmed the existence of his new company on X (formerly Twitter) last week. In his post, he described Unconventional, Inc.'s ambitious goal: "rethinking the foundations of a computer to build a new substrate for intelligence that is as efficient as biology. Brain Scale Efficiency without the biological baggage!"

This is not Rao's first foray into the tech startup scene. In 2023, Databricks acquired his previous company, MosaicML, for a substantial $1.3 billion. Founded by Rao in 2020, MosaicML specialized in training and deploying large AI models and successfully raised $33.7 million from investors including Lux Capital, DCVC, Playground Global, and Samsung Next. Before MosaicML, Rao co-founded Nervana Systems, a machine learning platform that Intel Corp. acquired in 2016 for an reported sum exceeding $400 million.

Rao dedicated over two years to Databricks as its VP of AI, a company now valued at $100 billion with $4 billion in annual recurring revenue. He departed Databricks last month, as per his LinkedIn profile and earlier reports, to dedicate his full attention to Unconventional, Inc. The vision guiding Rao's new company is poised to position it as a direct competitor to industry giant Nvidia. Unconventional, Inc. plans to achieve this by designing a novel AI machine that integrates both custom silicon chips and comprehensive server infrastructure, aiming to redefine the landscape of artificial intelligence computing.