Semron has successfully raised $7.9 million (€7.3 million) to advance its AI chips with innovative 3D packaging tailored for mobile devices.
Based in Dresden, Germany, Semron aims to establish a new benchmark for AI chips in the mobile sector, responding to the industry's evolving demands. Led by Join Capital and supported by SquareOne, OTB Ventures, and Onsight Ventures, this funding positions Semron at the forefront of semiconductor innovation, particularly during this transitional phase as Moore’s Law slows.
In a landscape increasingly driven by the need for sophisticated AI capabilities, Semron is focused on developing advanced chips for compact consumer devices such as smartphones, earbuds, and VR headsets. The key advancement is Semron’s 3D semiconductor technology, which enhances chip efficiency by up to 20 times. This leap means the chips can support AI models that are up to 1,000 times larger without increasing their size.
Semron’s proprietary technology, named CapRAM, employs a groundbreaking architecture based on a variable capacitor, or 'memcapacitor'. This approach reduces electron movement significantly compared to traditional methods that rely on currents and transistors, resulting in a remarkable 20-fold increase in energy efficiency at the chip level.
Strategic Seed Funding Round
The latest seed funding round, led by Join Capital, attracted attention from new investors, including SquareOne, OTB Ventures, and Hermann Hauser from Onsight Ventures. Earlier pre-seed backers like Wolfram Drescher (BlueWonder), Andreas Werner, and Sven Sieber (Gigahertz Ventures), along with Hans Rohrer, former president at TSMC, also extended their support.
“This funding round represents a significant leap for Semron in the AI infrastructure space. We aren't just focused on reducing energy consumption and enhancing performance; we envision a transformative shift toward lower costs, greater flexibility, and the ability to run extensive AI models on remarkably small silicon platforms. This evolution is vital for realizing advanced applications like smart contact lenses,” said Aron Kirschen, Semron’s CEO.
CapRAM Technology and 3D-Scaled AI Chips
Semron’s CapRAM technology signifies a major advancement in developing the most energy-efficient semiconductors for AI inference. By utilizing a variable capacitor instead of traditional currents, Semron reduces noise and energy consumption, achieving a 20-fold increase in energy efficiency.
Additionally, Semron's chips can take advantage of three-dimensional space without overheating, enabling support for AI models that are 200 to 300 times larger than current standards, with an eye towards a potential 1,000-fold increase in the future.
Leveraging conventional semiconductor materials streamlines production processes, potentially saving up to $108 million (€100 million) in development costs.
Georg Stockinger, a partner at SquareOne, remarked, “Computing resources are becoming the ‘oil’ of the 21st century. With resource-intensive large language models (LLMs) emerging globally and Moore’s Law hitting its physical limits, we are approaching a significant bottleneck in computing resources. This shortage will hinder productivity and competitiveness on multiple levels. Semron stands to play a crucial role in this context, providing a revolutionary chip that specializes in computing AI models, reducing costs and energy consumption by at least 20 times.”
Expansion Plans
With this influx of capital, Semron will accelerate hardware and compiler development, expand its team, and enhance its international presence. The company aims to quadruple its workforce by year’s end.
Jan Borgstädt, managing partner at Join Capital, stated, “We are excited to be at the forefront of this technological revolution by investing in Semron. We see immense potential in their innovation to reshape the AI landscape in smart devices worldwide and to initiate a new dynamic in the struggles of the semiconductor industry amid the rise of GenAI. This investment aligns with our commitment to backing technologies poised to redefine their fields. We are confident that Semron will not only lead but also inspire the future of smart devices.”
When asked how Semron plans to compete with established players like Nvidia, Kirschen explained, “Our technology differentiates itself through a strong emphasis on performance and cost-efficiency, targeting the edge computing market for advanced AI capabilities. Our advantage lies in our ability to run AI models several hundred times larger while achieving up to 20 times the efficiency at a dramatically lower cost per performance unit. This is facilitated by stacking multiple computing layers on the same silicon substrate.”
Semron is targeting markets that require intense AI functionality, including LLMs and GenAI for digital assistants in smartphones, voice control and live translation in earbuds, and enhanced experiences in VR headsets. To date, the company has raised a total of $10.9 million and currently employs 11 individuals.
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