SiPearl, a French supercomputer chip designer, secures €90 million in the first phase of its Series A funding round. The funding, provided by ARM, Atos, key industry partners, and European and French public investors, will enable SiPearl to tapeout its Rhea ARM-based supercomputer chip in early 2024 at TSMC. Rhea is designed to be compatible with third-party accelerators such as GPUs, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies, and utilizes the ARM Neoverse V1 platform to achieve a 50% reduction in power consumption for equivalent computing power. SiPearl has also collaborated with AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and GraphCore, a UK-based AI accelerator chip and system developer, for integration with GPUs and AI accelerators.
Atos, through its Eviden business, and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund have provided funding for SiPearl, with additional support of up to €25 million in convertible debt from the European Investment Bank (EIB). This latest funding brings SiPearl's total financing to €110.5 million, including €20.5 million in grants from the European Union and French grants through the European Processor Initiative (EPI) consortium project, the EIC Accelerator program, and Ile-de-France region. More investors are expected to join the funding round by the end of 2023.
SiPearl, which currently employs 130 people across various locations in France, Germany, and Spain, has plans to expand its workforce to over 1,000 employees by the end of 2025. The company has been backed by Ansys for power sign-off of its Rhea and Cronos microprocessors and has also collaborated with Intel for supercomputer GPU. SiPearl's Rhea microprocessor is designed to power European supercomputers with a limited environmental footprint, and the company aims to contribute to Europe's technological independence and sovereignty in the high-performance computing (HPC) market.
The funding received from Atos, EIC Fund, EIB, and other supporters is seen as a significant step towards realizing SiPearl's vision of developing indigenous HPC technology in Europe that can compete with global counterparts. The European Union's innovation programs, including the EuroHPC initiative, have played a crucial role in SiPearl's success, and the company expresses gratitude to its investors for their contributions. SiPearl's Rhea microprocessor is powered by the Neoverse V1 platform from ARM, and ARM's Infrastructure Line of Business is fully supportive of SiPearl's efforts to build advanced HPC systems.
Atos, as a European leader in the design, manufacturing, and deployment of supercomputing infrastructures, recognizes the significance of microprocessing units in the future of HPC and welcomes SiPearl's Europe-grown microprocessor. The EIC Fund, EIB, and EuroHPC Joint Undertaking also express their support for SiPearl's efforts in developing a strong European HPC supply chain with energy-efficient components and technologies to achieve digital sovereignty and sustainability in supercomputing.
