Chinese chip design startup Moore Threads agreed a capital raise that brought its valuation to roughly 25 billion yuan ($3.449 billion) shortly before it was hit by U.S. export controls, two sources familiar with the matter said. The U.S. in October added the graphic processing unit designer to a trade blacklist, cutting it off from having its chips manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co or other leading chipmakers that use U.S. equipment. The month before Moore Threads had raised roughly 1 billion yuan in a so-called "series B+" round, one of the sources said.