Vertical Compute Raises €37M to Tackle AI’s Memory Bottleneck

The race to build the infrastructure underpinning artificial intelligence has moved well beyond software and into the physical layer of computing itself. As AI models grow exponentially in size and complexity, the semiconductor industry faces a fundamental constraint that threatens to slow progress: the memory wall. European deeptech investors are increasingly backing startups that address this hardware-level challenge, recognising that the next leap in AI performance depends as much on memory architecture as on processing power.

Belgian semiconductor startup Vertical Compute has raised an additional €37 million in seed funding, bringing its total seed round to €57 million. The company, an imec spin-off founded in 2024, is developing a novel 3D memory architecture that stacks vertical memory elements directly on top of compute logic within a single wafer manufacturing process. The fresh capital will fund the transition from chip validation to commercial chiplet deployment for next-generation AI platforms.

Quantonation Leads Extended Seed Round with Strong European Backing

The €37 million extension was led by Quantonation, the Paris-based deeptech venture firm specialising in quantum and advanced computing investments. New investors joining the round include Flanders Future Techfund (managed by Flemish investment company PMV), Wallonie Entreprendre, Sambrinvest, Noshaq, InvestBW, Drysdale Ventures, and Kima Ventures. Existing backers Eurazeo, XAnge, Vector Gestion, imec.xpand, and imec all reinvested, underscoring continued confidence in the company’s technical roadmap.

The breadth of the investor syndicate is notable. Vertical Compute has assembled a coalition that spans French, Belgian, and German government-backed funds alongside established European venture capital firms. This cross-border alignment reflects the strategic importance that European policymakers and investors attach to building sovereign semiconductor capabilities, particularly in AI-critical components where supply constraints continue to tighten.

The initial €20 million seed round, led by imec.xpand, had already positioned Vertical Compute as one of Europe’s most well-capitalised deeptech seed-stage companies. With the extension, the total €57 million seed round places the startup firmly among the continent’s largest pre-Series A raises in the semiconductor space.

Solving the Memory Wall: From Centimetres to Nanometres

The technical challenge that Vertical Compute addresses is well understood but stubbornly difficult to solve. Current AI chip architectures rely on a horizontal separation between processing units and memory, creating a bottleneck as data must travel centimetres across circuit boards. Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) offers speed but at prohibitive cost and limited density, while Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) provides greater capacity but consumes substantial energy and bandwidth. As AI workloads intensify, the scaling limitations of both memory technologies have become a binding constraint on system performance.

Vertical Compute’s approach — what the company describes as the “skyscraper model” — fundamentally reimagines this architecture. By integrating vertical data lanes directly on top of computation units within a single wafer process, the technology reduces data movement from centimetres to nanometres. The company claims its approach has the potential to outperform conventional DRAM in terms of density, cost, and energy efficiency, offering a step change rather than an incremental improvement.

In just over a year since spinning out of imec, Europe’s leading nanoelectronics research centre, Vertical Compute has grown to a team of 25 across Belgium and France, successfully taped out its first vertically integrated memory-on-logic test chip, and secured a manufacturing partnership with TSMC. The collaboration with the world’s largest semiconductor foundry validates that the vertical memory approach can be produced at industrial scale — a critical milestone for any chip startup seeking commercial traction.

European AI Chip Ambitions Gain Momentum

Vertical Compute’s raise arrives at a moment of heightened strategic urgency for the European semiconductor sector. Global AI chip demand continues to outstrip supply, with memory constraints emerging as a particular chokepoint. The European Chips Act, which aims to double Europe’s share of global semiconductor production to 20 per cent by 2030, has created a favourable funding environment for startups addressing critical gaps in the AI computing value chain.

The company was co-founded by CEO Sylvain Dubois, formerly of Google, and CTO Sebastien Couet, who brings deep expertise from his time at imec’s research labs. Their combination of commercial scaling experience and advanced semiconductor research positions Vertical Compute to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and volume production — a transition that has historically proven challenging for European chip startups.

With the extended seed funding secured, Vertical Compute is now focused on moving beyond validation and into commercial chiplet deployment. If the technology delivers on its promise, it could offer AI system designers a European-made alternative to the memory solutions currently dominated by a handful of Asian manufacturers, whilst simultaneously addressing the energy consumption challenges that increasingly constrain data centre expansion.

Summary