German semiconductor technology firm Semron has secured €7.3 million in seed funding for its innovative work in developing three-dimensional artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor chips. Led by Join Capital, the funding round included SquareOne, OTB Ventures, Onsight Ventures (Hermann Hauser), and ongoing support from pre-seed investors.
Semron specializes in crafting energy-efficient computer chips designed to enhance AI performance in compact smart devices. The company’s unique three-dimensional chip design addresses challenges such as cost, size, and energy consumption faced by modern chips.
The semiconductor industry has been grappling with the limitations of current chip technology, particularly in the context of evolving AI demands for smaller smart devices. Semron’s CEO and Co-Founder, Aron Kirschen, highlighted the company’s vision for a transformative shift towards cost reduction, increased flexibility, and the capability to efficiently run vast AI models.
Semron has achieved a breakthrough in developing the world’s most energy-efficient semiconductor technology for AI inference, named CapRAM. This proprietary technology employs a novel semiconductor device architecture that utilizes a variable capacitor (‘memcapacitor’) instead of relying on traditional currents and transistors.
CapRAM reduces electron movement, significantly minimizing noise and resulting in a remarkable 20-fold increase in energy efficiency at the chip level. Semron’s chips, by efficiently managing energy consumption, can leverage three-dimensional space, allowing for the stacking of silicon dies (‘chipsets) and supporting AI models two to three hundred times larger than current capacities.
Jan Borgstädt, Managing Partner at Join Capital, expressed excitement about being at the forefront of this technological revolution, stating, “We are confident that Semron will not only lead but also inspire this new era of smart devices.”
With the additional funding, Semron plans to accelerate hardware and compiler development, expand its team, and focus on internationalization. The company aims to quadruple its team by the end of the year, positioning itself as a key player in reshaping the landscape of AI capabilities in smart devices globally.
