In 2023, Gavin Uberti, Robert Wachen and Chris Zhu, the co-founders of AI chip startup Etched, were still Harvard University students living in a dorm room. That was when Uberti first met with partners from Sequoia Capital. The venture firm was among the first Etched pitched that year when raising a seed round that was trying to compete in the notoriously difficult semiconductor industry. Sequoia didn’t invest then.

Recently, the Menlo Park, Calif., venture firm got another chance to invest in Etched at its Series C. Before and during the fundraising round, Sequoia mounted an all-out charm offensive. Wachen hopped on a plane with Sequoia co-leader Pat Grady—who runs the firm alongside Alfred Lin—former senior Sequoia leader Doug Leone and partner Sonya Huang. The Etched cofounder also visited the Los Angeles home of another Sequoia partner, Shaun Maguire. Lin then traveled with a delegation of partners to Etched’s San Jose, Calif., headquarters to look at its chip designs.