Axelera AI Raises $50M to Democratize Edge AI

European start-up establishes itself in the heart of Silicon Valley, secures close to 100 requests for product samples and embarks on aggressive growth trajectory in North America to capitalize on strong customer momentum. Silicon Valley, CA and Eindhoven, NL – May 22, 2023 – Axelera AI, the provider of world’s most powerful and advanced solutions for AI at the Edge, announces new investors who have joined their oversubscribed Series A round, bringing the total amount raised to $50 million. In the last several months, CDP Venture Capital, Verve Ventures and Fractionelera have joined the round. The latter consortium of investors was created specifically to fund Axelera AI. Innovation Industries increased its investment in the company becoming the largest investor. Despite the challenging fundraising environment, this underscores the company’s potential and market traction.

The funding will support Axelera AI’s global expansion and mass production of its first-generation AI acceleration platform, powered by its disruptive in-memory computing and RISC-V controlled dataflow technology. A few months after their product announcement, 350+ customers have shown interest, close to 100 requested a sample for testing, and over 50 signed up to the company’s Early Access Program (EAP), which still has a few weeks remaining for potential applicants. The EAP supports customers in developing next-generation computer vision products by providing benefits, such as collaborative hardware design, as well as specialized support for software and machine learning.

Axelera AI has begun expanding its operations within the United States with Jonathan Ballon joining as non-executive Chairman and the addition of Sander Arts, marketing veteran in Silicon Valley as Marketing Advisor. The company is also actively recruiting for a Global Vice President of Sales, business developers and technical support team.

“In just 20 months, we’ve achieved incredible milestones including the tape out of two cutting-edge AI chips, securing a total of $50M in funding, forging impactful partnerships and design wins with industry-leading customers. We’re thrilled to bring our new investors into the fold. This is a testament to our trailblazing technology and the unwavering trust our investors place in our extraordinary team,” said Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO of Axelera AI.

“We are proud to contribute to the growth of Axelera AI, a great Italian-led European company that is expanding its R&D division in the Milan office by bringing know-how and expertise to a highly strategic market for the future such as semiconductors,” said Mario Scuderi, Senior Partner and head of Evolution Fund, CDP Venture Capital.

“We believe that Axelera AI is in a unique position to capture the rapidly developing edge AI market with a strong combination of next-generation hardware and software. The exceptional founding team has been able to constantly attract top-level talent and push the technology to a commercial level at a high pace. We are excited to join this future European semicon champion on their journey,” said Emma Schepers, Senior Investment Associate at Verve Ventures.

“We are thankful for the opportunity to invest as a collective of individuals in a company that is positioned at the forefront of innovation in the semiconductor industry. We believe in the continued growth and development of the market and are confident in the potential for Axelera AI to deliver ground-breaking solutions that will shape the future of the industry,” said a representative of Fractionelera.

“As one of the first investors in Axelera AI, we are happy to see additional strong investors joining the journey. This further acknowledges the strength of the team, technology and product while positioning the company perfectly for strong growth. We look forward to building this company together with the management team and the investors,” said Sander Verbrugge, Partner at Innovation Industries.

Dr. Massimo Vanzi was recently appointed to its board of directors, bolstering its 45-year experience in deep-tech and semiconductor technology.

At the Embedded Vision Summit 2023 in Santa Clara, taking place from May 22-24, Axelera AI will be presenting their Metis AI platform and demonstrating its value proposition. Axelera AI’s CEO and the leadership team will attend the event.