Feb 24 (Reuters) - SambaNova Systems said on Tuesday it has raised $350 million in a new funding round and struck a partnership with Intel ( INTC ) ​as it seeks to capitalise on ‌surging demand for inference chips used in artificial intelligence applications.

Inference chips, ⁠which run AI models and power real-time decisions, ⁠have attracted intense investor interest following ‌a wave of ‌dealmaking around rivals to Nvidia ( NVDA ), as AI companies seek faster and ​more efficient hardware.

Private equity ‌firm Vista Equity Partners and Cambium Capital led the round, which also included Intel's ( INTC ) ​investment arm, Intel Capital, ​SambaNova ‌said on Tuesday, confirming a Reuters exclusive reported earlier this month.

The proceeds will fund expansion of ⁠SambaNova's new SN50 AI chip, scale its SambaCloud ⁠platform and deepen enterprise software integrations. SoftBank Corp ( SFTBF ) will be the first customer to deploy the SN50 chip within its AI data centres in Japan.

SambaNova ⁠and ‌Intel also signed a multi-year agreement to ‌deliver cost-effective AI inference solutions for AI-native companies, ⁠complementing Intel's ( INTC ) existing data centre GPU commitments.

The investment marks a rare foray by Vista beyond its traditional focus on enterprise software.

The funding comes after acquisition talks between SambaNova and Intel ( INTC ) stalled. Intel ( INTC ), whose chief executive Lip-Bu Tan ​also serves as SambaNova's executive chairman, had previously discussed acquiring the startup for roughly $1.6 billion, including debt, ​Reuters has reported.