Born under the auspices of the European Processor Initiative (EPI) project, the EIC Accelerator Blended Finance company SiPearl announces the closing of its €130 million Series A with a third and last tranche of €32 million. The financing round, supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, will bring the project’s aim of fostering the deployment of high-performance processor technologies in Europe closer to fulfilment.
The investment will support the industrialisation phase of Rhea1, the company’s very first family of high-performance, energy-efficient processors. It will also help to accelerate the R&D activities for the launch of next-generator processors for supercomputing and AI.
Driving Europe’s technological competitiveness in supercomputing and AI
Since its inception in January 2020, the French start-up has come a long way, building a world-class team of 200 employees with operations across France, Spain, and Italy, not to mention its conception of the most complex processor ever designed in Europe, Rhea1 – handed off to TSMC in Taïwan for start of manufacturing just a few weeks before the announcement of the closing of the last Series A financing round.
Available for sampling starting from early 2026, Rhea1 will equip the CPU cluster of JUPITER, the first European exascale supercomputer (a new class of supercomputers capable of performing at least one quintillion floating-point operations per second).
However, the high-performance processor will also serve as a key component of iconic European collaborative projects such as Aero, OpenCUBE, HIGHER and Riser, all united by the aim of promoting the emergence of a sovereign European Cloud.
Final closing of €130m Series A with Cathay Venture, EIC Fund and France 2030
SiPearl’s third tranche of funding is backed by a new investor Cathay Venture, with its first investment in France and two existing investors, namely the French State (via French Tech Souveraineté) and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund – through which equity investments can be offered to beneficiaries combined with EIC Accelerator grants (see EIC Accelerator Blended Finance). Overall, SiPearl counts now among its investors Arm, Atos Group, through its Eviden business, Cathay Venture, European Investment Bank (EIB), EIC Fund, French Tech Souveraineté and a banking pool led by Caisse d’Epargne RhôneAlpes.
In today’s geopolitical context, partnering with Taïwan, home to the world’s largest dedicated foundry, TSMC, and the private equity firms specializing in semiconductors will help sponsor and drive Europe’s technological sovereignty in supercomputing and AI. Cathay Venture’s investment in SiPearl’s capital showcases its confidence in the strengthening ties between Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem and European tech companies
At this regard, Philippe Notton, CEO & Founder of SiPearl, highlights:
Today’s geopolitical and economic context confirms the vision that led to SiPearl’s inception. Sovereign hardware is mandatory to ensure Europe’s independence and sovereignty in AI and strategic fields such as security and defence. With the tape-out of the most complex processor ever designed in Europe, we are showing that Europe now has a competitor capable of challenging non-European leaders. Because Europe needs strong and independent partners in the global semiconductor ecosystem, we have chosen to forge closer ties with Taiwan, a country at the forefront of this industry worldwide. We would like to thank the investors who have placed their trust in us and who support us in this endeavor
Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, commented:
SiPearl was one of the first companies backed by the EIC Fund. Their groundbreaking work in designing energy-efficient, high-performance processors has confirmed the strategic value of that investment. We are delighted to see the closing of the largest Series A funding round in the European fabless semiconductor industry — a major milestone for the company. With its deep European roots, SiPearl’s pioneering work strengthens Europe’s position in HPC and AI, while advancing our technological sovereignty
Background information
The EIC Accelerator offers start-ups and SMEs grants of up to €2.5 million combined with equity investments through the EIC Fund ranging from €0.5 to €10 million. Companies can apply for blended finance (combining grant and investment) or equity only. Companies working on technologies of strategic European interest can apply for investments of more than €10 million. In addition to financial support, all projects benefit from a range of Business Acceleration Services that provide access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors.
Additional information about SiPearl
SiPearl is an EIC beneficiary striving to build European high-performance energy-efficient processors dedicated to HPC and AI. Supported by the EIC Accelerator grant, combined with equity investments through the EIC Fund, the company is deploying world-class supercomputing infrastructures in Europe for solving strategic challenges in security, defense, generative AI, medical research, energy management and climate with a reduced environmental footprint.
Learn more about SiPearl by visiting the Horizon Europe database or the company official website.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.