GEMESYS secures EUR €8.6m to revolutionise AI chips

AI hardware startup GEMESYS has raised EUR €8.6 million in a pre-seed funding round.

The funding round was led by Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Atlantic Labs, with contributions from NRW.BANK, Sony Innovation Fund, and Plug and Play Tech Center from Silicon Valley. Additional grant funding from the German government was also received. The newly secured funds will be utilised by GEMESYS to accelerate research and development, as well as to expand its team. The company is actively recruiting for positions such as Senior C++ Developer and Senior Simulation Engineer.

GEMESYS is working on advancing AI chip technology specifically designed to address energy inefficiencies in neural networks. As current neural networks require substantial energy for training and operation, GEMESYS aims to overcome these challenges with novel chip architecture and memristor technology, enabling efficient on-device AI training and inference. This could pave the way for wider applications in edge devices, where AI can be processed and learned at the data source.

GEMESYS has already established a working hardware demonstrator, and silicon testing is on the horizon to reveal the full potential of its AI chip technology. This development holds significant promise for Europe's technological independence in AI hardware, an area currently dominated by Asia and the US.

Dr. Dennis Michaelis, CEO of GEMESYS, stated, "At GEMESYS, our mission is to bring learning capabilities to every device through technology developed in Europe. Building on this foundation, we're pioneering new applications that empower edge devices like never before - positioning Europe as a leader in distributed intelligence and setting a new standard for industry innovation."

Ion Hauer of APEX Ventures added, "We're excited to see GEMESYS redefine what's possible in Edge AI. Its technology can transform countless industries and push the boundaries of on-device inference and training." Quentin Calleja from Atlantic Labs commented, "GEMESYS is reinventing AI hardware with a truly innovative approach to edge intelligence. Its technology isn't just an incremental improvement - it's a game-changer."

Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director – EMEA at Sony Ventures, remarked, "GEMESYS's innovative architecture addresses the long-standing 'von Neumann bottleneck' while maintaining solid roots in CMOS technology essential for the supply chain. We're thrilled to support the GEMESYS team as they pioneer a new era of energy-efficient computing."

The startup's novel architecture facilitates efficient neural network processing while addressing energy efficiency challenges, notably beneficial for the Internet of Things (IoT) sectors. The emphasis on data privacy, offline processing, and reduced bandwidth requirements marks GEMESYS as a prominent player in IoT solutions globally. GEMESYS also offers a new training methodology that compresses neural networks, enhancing efficiency for inferencing tasks.

Founded by Dr. Dennis Michaelis, Dr. Enver Solan, Moritz Schmidt, and Daniel Krüger, GEMESYS is based in Bochum, Germany. The team currently consists of 19 members, demonstrating a commitment to diversity with five female members and an international workforce.