ecosystem / companies / untether-ai

Untether AI

Untether AI was a Toronto chip startup building energy-efficient at-memory AI inference processors to rival Nvidia GPUs. Founded in 2018 as a spin-out of Kapik Integration by Raymond Chik, Martin Snelgrove and Darrick Wiebe, it raised over US$170M and grew to about 770 people before winding down in 2025, when AMD acqui-hired its engineering team.

No longer operating — Wound down in June 2025 after AMD acqui-hired its engineering team (no IP or products transferred); Untether AI Corporation made an assignment in bankruptcy on 2025-10-15, trustee PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., liabilities of $128.6M. The company website is offline.

AI ChipsTorontoFounded 2018
US$170M+raised by 2023 (through Series B), backed by Intel Capital and GM Ventures - note: The Globe and Mail and Insolvency Insider both put the total nearer US$150M (checked 2026-07-20)TechTO stage 2023-05-08
~770employees at peak (2023), across Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and the US - note: third-party trackers put headcount nearer 90-150; this stage figure is unverified (checked 2026-07-20)TechTO stage 2023-05-08
5-10xmore energy-efficient than GPUs on AI inference, per co-founder Raymond ChikTechTO stage 2023-05-08

The people

Raymond ChikCo-founder & Board Chair · 2 TechTO talks
MS
Martin SnelgroveCo-founder & CTOprofile coming
DW
Darrick WiebeCo-founderprofile coming

What they build

speedAI acceleratorsAt-memory AI inference chips and accelerator cards (one-chip and four-chip) built to run neural networks faster and more efficiently than GPUs. Discontinued after the 2025 wind-down.
imAIgine SDKThe software toolkit for deploying models onto Untether's at-memory hardware. No longer supported.

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Working at Untether AI

Browse open roles across the community on the TechTO Job Board — Canada’s most connected tech network. Untether AI’s roles show up here whenever they post.

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On the TechTO stage

Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Untether AI

About

Untether AI commercialized at-memory computation — putting processing next to memory to minimize data movement and power for AI inference. The architecture traced back to University of Toronto research by co-founder Martin Snelgrove and was spun out of Kapik Integration in 2018. The company shut down in mid-2025 after struggling to raise; AMD acqui-hired its engineering team in June 2025, without acquiring its chips or IP.

Backers

Intel Capital, GM Ventures, CPP Investments, Radical Ventures, Tracker Capital

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Quick answers

What did Untether AI do?

It built energy-efficient at-memory AI inference chips — putting compute next to memory to cut data movement and power — aiming to run neural networks faster and cheaper than Nvidia GPUs.

What happened to Untether AI?

It wound down in mid-2025 after failing to raise. AMD acqui-hired its engineering team in June 2025 but did not buy the company's chips, IP or products, and its speedAI chips and imAIgine SDK were discontinued.

Who founded Untether AI?

Raymond Chik, Martin Snelgrove and Darrick Wiebe, in Toronto in 2018, as a spin-out of Kapik Integration.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Jul 20, 2026