Raymond Chik is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Hepzibah.
Hepzibah is a 'full-stack' AI compute architecture startup; full-stack as in "From Models to Metals".
Raymond's other work includes:
- Co-Founder and Board Chair of Kapik Integration which has spun out Star IC , Hepzibah, Untether AI and other companies
- Co-Founder of Untether AI which has raised $150M+ from Intel Capital, Radical Ventures and Tracker Capital
- Active angel and advisor
- Champion and supporter of Canadian hardware/hardtech
Takeaways
- Genesis of Kapik and spinout companies.
- Seismic shift towards AI computing in the semiconductor industry.
- Should we build a semiconductor fab in Canada? What is the best option.
- Canada's under-recognized semiconductor industry includes ATI (acquired by AMD), Untether AI, Star IC, Tenstorrent, Taalas, Astrus and many more.
- Geopolitical trends in the chip space.
- Fostering homegrown talent and keeping it in Canada.
- Energy efficiency is becoming a key focus in AI chip development.
- Emerging trends beyond AI in chips.
- Edge computing is an emerging area with significant potential.
- Lack of investment in hardware in Canada.
- Investment landscape for chip companies.
- Raymond's new venture.
Chapters
00:00 The Genesis of Kapik Integration
03:33 The Shift to AI Computing
07:45 Spinning Off New Ventures
12:08 Lessons in Entrepreneurship
15:06 The Debate on Semiconductor Fabs in Canada
20:11 The Semiconductor Landscape in Canada
25:21 Fostering Homegrown Talent and Companies
29:21 The Influence of Borders on the Semiconductor Industry
32:17 Emerging Trends Beyond AI
38:55 Investment Landscape in Semiconductor
42:08 Introducing Habsaba: A New Venture
Keywords
Kapik, AI computing, semiconductor industry, Canada, entrepreneurship, investment, edge computing, energy efficiency, technology trends, innovation
