Dutch AI Semiconductor Startup Axelera AI Launches With $12 Million Seed Round
AI semiconductor startup Axelera AI announced today that it has successfully closed a seed investment round of $12 million.
The round was led by emerging technologies leader Bitfury and joined by global nanoelectronics R&D center imec and deep-tech venture capital funds Innovation Industries and imec.xpand. The funding will support the company’s development of an industry-defining product powering AI applications at the edge.
Axelera AI was incubated by Bitfury Group in 2019, formerly operating as Bitfury AI until the company came out as an independent entity this year. Building on its extensive research and development focused on integrating world-class hardware and software technologies for edge and cloud-to-edge enterprise solutions, Axelera AI joined forces with imec in early 2020 to develop groundbreaking computing architecture for high-performance AI. Headquartered in the AI Innovation Center of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Axelera AI also has R&D offices in Leuven (BE) and Zurich (CH). The company has already recruited an elite team of more than 20 senior engineers and developers from world-leading AI companies and research centers, including Intel, Qualcomm, IBM, and imec.
“With our launch as a new independent company and the closing of this investment, Axelera AI is now claiming its place as a significant player in the global AI sector,” said Fabrizio del Maffeo, CEO and co-founder of Axelera AI. “Our extraordinary team merges complementary expertise in software development, image processing, dataflow architecture, in-memory computing, algorithms and quantization with a proven track record of business success. We look forward to building on our extensive R&D and introducing new solutions across the globe over the next few years.”
Axelera AI is designing the world’s most efficient and advanced solutions for AI at the edge. Its game-changing hardware and software product will concentrate the AI computational power of an entire server into a single chip at a fraction of the power consumption and price of AI hardware today. The company’s groundbreaking solution will empower thousands of applications of AI at the edge, making the use of AI more efficient and accessible than ever before. Axelera AI’s products will be fully integrated with the leading open-sourced AI frameworks when it launches to select customers and partners in early 2022.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210915005028/en/
Contact information
Felipe Augusto Chies
press@axelera.ai
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Australian Defence Force Secures Satellite Communications on SES IS-2212.1.2026 23:30:00 EET | Press release
Satellite communications solutions provider SES will provide secure uninterrupted satellite communications to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for a minimum of 16 years thanks to a new extended agreement. The service will be provided via the SES Intelsat 22 satellite and an ultra-high frequency (UHF) military communications payload. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112137182/en/ Assistant Secretary Space Systems Branch, Michael Hunt, formalizes contract negotiations for the through-life support of the IS-22 satellite with Rory Welch, senior vice-president of service delivery at SES Space and Defense. Photos: Corporal Annika Smit Under the renewed arrangement, SES will reposition the IS-22 satellite to a new orbital slot specified by the ADF, continuing a mission that has been the cornerstone of Australia’s secure military communications since IS-22’s launch in 2012. SES will build a dedicated ground segmen
NetApp Appoints Paul Fipps to the Board of Directors12.1.2026 23:05:00 EET | Press release
NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the intelligent data infrastructure company, today announced that Paul Fipps, President of Global Customer Operations at ServiceNow, has joined its Board of Directors. The board now has ten directors, nine of whom are independent, and 50% of whom have been appointed within the last five years. Fipps brings more than 20 years of experience driving technology-enabled growth and customer transformation. At ServiceNow, he currently leads global sales, customer success, partner ecosystems, and field operations. He previously served as EVP of Worldwide Sales at ServiceNow and as President of Under Armour Connected Fitness and Chief Experience Officer at Under Armour, overseeing global direct-to-consumer, connected fitness, and digital experiences. He also previously served on the advisory board of Quantum Metric. Fipps holds a B.S. in Information Systems, an MBA from the University of Baltimore, and is a graduate of The Wharton School’s Advanced Management Program. “P
FDA Accepts New Drug Application for Pimicotinib for the Treatment of Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor12.1.2026 21:00:00 EET | Press release
Merck, a leading science and technology company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s new drug application (NDA) for pimicotinib as a systemic treatment for patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT). The application is based on the primary results and longer-term follow-up of the global Phase 3 MANEUVER study, which demonstrated deep and durable tumor responses and meaningful improvements in clinical outcomes with pimicotinib. “With pimicotinib, we have an opportunity to significantly advance care for people living with TGCT, a painful and debilitating disease that has few effective and well-tolerated treatment options beyond surgery,” said David Weinreich, Global Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer for the Healthcare business of Merck. “Based on clinical trial results showing not only a reduction in tumor burden, but also the ability to help alleviate symptoms like pain and stiffness in the global Phase 3 MANEUVER study
Fabentech receives Marketing Authorization for Ricimed®, an antidote against ricin poisoning12.1.2026 20:32:00 EET | Press release
Fabentech, a French biopharmaceutical company specializing in medical countermeasures against biological threats, today announces that it has been granted Marketing Authorization for Ricimed®, a treatment for ricin poisoning. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112241557/en/ Ricimed - Fabentech Ricimed®, an antidote against one of the most toxic natural substances in the world In addition to supportive care, and in severe situations requiring immediate administration, Ricimed® represents a new therapeutic option for the management of acute ricin intoxication. Ricin, among the most dangerous naturally occurring substances, can cause death within hours or days regardless of the route of exposure, making it a major biological threat for many countries. Having demonstrated its ability to specifically target and neutralize ricin before irreversible damage occurs, Ricimed® is an antibody-based therapy relying on poly
Traxys Group and the Shareholders of Comax2 AB - the holding company of Carbomax AB - sign Share Purchase Agreement to sell 100% interests to Traxys Group12.1.2026 20:20:00 EET | Press release
Traxys S.à.r.l., Investment Aktiebolaget Spiltan and other major shareholders of Comax 2 AB – the holding company of Carbomax AB –are pleased to announce that they have signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to sell 100% interests to Traxys Group. Carbomax AB is a leading Swedish trading house and industrial operator specializing in ferroalloys, carbon products and briquettes. The transaction aims to strengthen Traxys’ presence in the Scandinavian market and support the region’s transition toward sustainable steel production. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first quarter 2026 following clearance by Swedish authorities, including foreign direct investment and antitrust approvals. Carbomax serves regional steel plants and most of foundries across the Nordics. With its strategic location near Västerås harbor and integrated processing capabilities Carbomax is well-positioned to capitalize on growing demand for green steel and sustainable raw materials. Mark Kristoff
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom