igel Toon, the cofounder and CEO of Graphcore, a semiconductor startup based in the U.K., recalls that only a couple of years ago many venture capitalists viewed the idea of investing in semiconductor chips as something of joke. “You’d take an idea to a meeting,” he says, “and many of the partners would roll about on the floor laughing.” Now some chip entrepreneurs are getting a very different reception. Instead of rolling on the floor, investors are rolling out their checkbooks.
