Vertical Compute, a new spin-off from imec, has raised €20 million in seed funding to develop vertically integrated memory and compute technology for AI applications. The investment round was led by imec.xpand and joined by Eurazeo, XAnge, Vector Gestion, and imec. The company is headquartered in Louvain-La-Neuve with R&D centers in Leuven, Grenoble, and Nice.
Vertical Compute is focused on addressing the memory limitations that affect the performance and energy efficiency of artificial intelligence systems. Its core technology integrates memory vertically above compute units, enabling lower latency, reduced power consumption, and more efficient on-device AI processing.
“As processor performance continues to increase, memory technologies are reaching their limits. Addressing this memory problem is becoming imperative to enable the next wave of AI innovations, and we are confident we have the answer,” said Sebastien Couet, CTO of Vertical Compute.
The company’s architecture is designed to limit data movement between memory and processors, which accounts for a significant portion of energy use in AI workloads. According to the company, the approach may reduce energy consumption by up to 80 percent while enabling more privacy-sensitive, personalized AI systems.
“The growth of data-intensive applications such as generative AI requires a rethink of how data is transferred from memory to processors. By going vertical, our solution can overcome the limitations of traditional memory technologies. We are confident that this will allow us to bring the full potential of large AI models to the edge, without having to make any compromises,” said Sylvain Dubois, CEO of Vertical Compute.
Vertical Compute’s patented memory technology was initially developed at imec, where Couet previously served as program director of magnetics. The company is now recruiting engineering staff to scale development and commercialization.
“We want to recruit the very best to finally put Europe at the forefront of technology,” added Sylvain Dubois.
“This investment round – one of the largest seed rounds ever for a Belgian start-up – underlines the confidence in the leadership team and the disruptive potential of this groundbreaking technology. We look forward to working with Sylvain and Sebastien and helping them achieve their ambitious goals,” said Tom Vanhoutte of imec.xpand.
“The seeds for this successful investment round were planted years ago through our research programs in advanced memory technologies. These have led to extensive IP, which will allow Vertical Compute to differentiate itself internationally. We are therefore convinced that Vertical Compute, with the continued support of our teams and ecosystem, can become a game changer in the chip industry. The strong international investor base shows that we are not the only ones who believe in this,” said Patrick Vandenameele, co-Chief Operating Officer at imec. For more information, please click here.
About Vertical Compute
Vertical Compute is a European deep tech start-up focused on developing vertically integrated memory technology for AI and data-intensive applications. Founded in 2024 as a spin-off from imec, the company is headquartered in Louvain-La-Neuve and has R&D locations in Leuven, Grenoble, and Nice.
About imec.xpand
imec.xpand is an early-stage venture capital fund focused on semiconductor and deep tech innovation. Backed by imec’s R&D ecosystem, the fund targets disruptive technologies with global commercial potential. For more information, please click here.
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