Ambiq Micro surged 61% on its first day of trading Wednesday, closing at $38.53 per share. The chipmaker priced its IPO at $24 the day before.
The jump values Ambiq at $656 million, a big jump from its $450 million private valuation in 2023, per PitchBook.
Ambiq builds ultra-low-energy chips for wearables and medical devices. Its CTO Scott Hanson told TechCrunch the company is betting on AI growth because its tech “can put more intelligence and more AI on board” edge processors. 
“Because we’re so low energy, we can put more intelligence and more AI on board”
Ambiq posted a Q1 net loss of $8.3 million on $15.7 million revenue, slightly better than the same quarter last year with a $9.8 million loss on $15.2 million revenue.
Kleiner Perkins and Singapore’s state-backed EDB Investments are top outside investors. Kleiner’s former general partner Wen Hsieh backed Ambiq since 2014 and also invested through his new firm, Matter Venture Partners.
The strong IPO debut signals solid investor appetite for small-cap AI plays in the chip space.
