€ 20m for imec MRAM in-memory compute chiplet spinout

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Vertical Compute has raised €20m to commercialise in-memory computing chiplet technology developed at imec in Belgium.

www.eenewseurope.com/, Jan. 14, 2025 – 

The chiplet is expected to be based on spin MRAM technology developed at imec which can reduce power consumption by 80% and speed up the execution of large language models for AI by 100X.

The seed round was led by imec.xpand and supported by Eurazeo, XAnge, Vector Gestion, and imec, and the company is founded by CEO Sylvain Dubois (ex-Google) and CTO Sebastien Couet (ex-imec), who is a specialist in spin MRAM technologies and led the imec MRAM programme.

imec showed a scalable spin-orbit transfer magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM) non-volatile memory device with the best published performance in 2023 built on a mainstream 300mm silicon process. This can replace SRAM as a last-level cache memory in AI applications through a combination of sub-nanosecond switching, almost unlimited endurance and lower standby power than SRAM for in-memory compute. SOT-MRAM bit cells can also be made much smaller than SRAM cells, translating into a higher bit packing density.

The MRAM device shown at the 2023 International Electron Devices Meeting had a switching energy below 100 femto-Joule per bit and >1015 endurance for last level cache memory applications.

"Memory technologies face limitations in both density and performance scaling, while processor performance continues to surge. The extreme data access requirements of AI workloads exacerbate this challenge, making it imperative to overcome the memory wall to enable the next wave of AI innovations. We believe going Vertical is the path to 100X gains," says Couet.

Vertical Compute is headquartered in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium with its main R&D offices in Leuven, as well as in Grenoble and Nice in France. The company is recruiting engineers to commercialize the chiplet-based technology. "We want to recruit the very best from all over Europe, and finally put Europe at the forefront in terms of tech," said Dubois.

"This seed investment round highlights the confidence in the leadership team's capabilities and the disruptive potential of this game-changing technology. We could not be more excited to collaborate with Sylvain, Sebastien and their team and to help them to achieve their ambitious goals", says Tom Vanhoutte from imec.xpand.

www.verticalcompute.com

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