Imec Launches Vertical Compute in $20.5 Million Seed Round
Europe's Imec.xpand has officially launched Vertical Compute, a memory chip firm, with a notable seed investment round valued at $20.5 million or 20 million euros. This venture, spearheaded by CEO Sylvain Dubois, formerly of Google, and CTO Sebastien Couet, who previously worked with Imec, is aimed at pioneering a groundbreaking change in memory and compute technology crucial for contemporary AI applications.
The initiative receives backing from several notable investors, including Eurazeo, XAnge, Vector Gestion, and the parent Imec. These funds are set to drive the development of Vertical Compute’s cutting-edge technology that holds promise for enhancing AI applications through efficiency and enhanced privacy measures. The innovation looks to reduce data transfer needs, thus achieving energy savings of up to 80% while also bolstering privacy through minimized remote data transfers.
"Memory technologies face limitations in both density and performance scaling, while processor performance continues to surge," remarked Sebastien Couet, Vertical Compute's CTO. "We believe going Vertical is the path to 100X gains," he added, emphasizing the transformative potential of their technology.
Tackling the Memory Wall
The rapid expansion of AI, particularly with large language models and generative technology, has intensified the dependency on complex cloud infrastructures, noted for high energy consumption and data transfer latency. These hurdles highlight the looming issue of the 'memory wall' which comprises the limitations of current memory technologies like SRAM and DRAM in scaling with processor speeds.
Given these challenges, the development of edge computing could be vital but comes with its own set of constraints, particularly when integrating AI models into personal devices. Addressing the memory wall is thus crucial to advance the capabilities of AI inferencing.
Innovating with Vertical Compute's Chiplet Technology
The unique proposition by Vertical Compute centers around its patented chiplet technology, originally conceptualized by Sebastien Couet during his tenure at Imec. This technology focuses on vertical data lanes integration directly onto computation units, potentially surpassing DRAM concerning density, cost, and energy efficiency. By limiting data movement, it revolutionizes the efficiency of data handling within chips.
"Our solution is designed to overcome the fundamental scaling limitations of memory technologies by going vertical," explained Sylvain Dubois, CEO of Vertical Compute, underlining the intent to harness large AI models on edge devices without sacrifice.
This path-breaking approach in chip design also aligns with a broader strategy to place Europe at the forefront of technological advancements. Dubois expressed ambitions to recruit top engineering talent across Europe to reinforce their R&D strategies.
Driving Recruitment and Growth
Vertical Compute is strategically based in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, with R&D spread across Leuven, Grenoble, and Nice. It is focused on assembling a formidable engineering team to expedite the deployment and growth of its chip-based technology.
"We are confident that, with the ongoing support of our teams and ecosystem, Vertical Compute can become a disruptor in the semiconductor industry," stated Patrick Vandenameele, Imec's co-COO, reflecting the strong industrial support behind the firm's ambitious journey.
Founded in 2024, Vertical Compute is dedicated to overcoming the memory bottleneck present in today's computing systems, marking a significant leap in the semiconductor domain.