Imec spinoff Vertical Compute has secured an additional 37 million euros following an earlier raise of 20 million to bring its seed round to 57 million euros. In just over a year, the company from Louvain-la-Neuve has grown to 25 people and successfully taped out its first test chip, integrating vertical memory stacks directly on compute logic within a single 300mm wafer manufacturing process flow. It’s now using the new seed funding to shift from validation to commercial chiplet deployment for next-gen AI platforms.
AI is advancing at unprecedented speed, but its infrastructure is approaching systemic limits. Compute architectures built on legacy 2D memory arrays are struggling to keep pace. The resulting memory bottleneck, combined with global constraints in advanced memory supply, is driving rising costs, soaring energy consumption and increasing concentration of AI capabilities in a handful of hyperscale data centers.
Vertical Compute aims to remove this bottleneck by stacking vertical memory elements directly on top of compute logic within a single wafer manufacturing process, reducing data movement from centimeters to nanometers. This minimizes latency, drastically cuts energy consumption and eliminates the inherent inefficiencies of traditional 2D memory. Delivered through a chiplet-based approach, the technology is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing processor architectures.
The seed round was led by Quantonation, with participation from Flanders Future Techfund (managed by the Flemish investment company PMV), Wallonie Entreprendre, Sambrinvest, Noshaq, InvestBW, Drysdale Ventures and Kima Ventures. Existing backers Eurazeo, XAnge, Vector Gestion, Imec.xpand and Imec also reinvested. In addition, Vertical Compute secured non-dilutive funding from the Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) and BPI France, included in the total financing package.
“We believe this technology can unlock a new phase of growth for AI systems, from hyperscale data centers to edge environments,” comments PMV’s Vincent Hebbelynck. “Vertical Compute is building a critical enabling layer for the ecosystem. As an Imec spinoff, it builds on decades of world-class semiconductor research rooted in Flanders – now positioned to address a global infrastructure challenge.”
