Overview
Spun out of imec, Vertical Compute works on tightly integrated compute and memory architectures aimed at reducing the memory bottleneck that limits AI inference performance. The vertically integrated approach means both the chip architecture and the packaging are designed together rather than sourced from separate vendors.
The EUR 57M seed round, closed in January 2025, is one of the larger seed rounds in Belgian deep-tech history and reflects both the strategic importance of AI compute infrastructure and the credibility that comes with an imec lineage.
Vertical Compute sits in Leuven's growing semiconductor cluster alongside other imec spin-offs including Swave Photonics.
Funding & milestones
1 events found for Vertical Compute · 2025
SeedVenture / equityDetailsEUR 57M
Reported amount EUR 57,000,000
Source not attached to this recordDeal record
Recorded history so far. Original currencies are preserved; amounts in different currencies are not added together. Debt, grants, acquisitions and listings are separate event types. Undated events appear last.
Profile narrative
- Seed: EUR 57M (January 2025)
Key people
In the news
- Onward to Day 2 at Santa Clara's #AIInfraSummit! 🚀 Yesterday, our CEO Sylvain Dubois joined David Goldman (Celesta Capital), Kamran Khan (AWS), Anton McGonnell (SambaNova Systems), and Chloe Jian Ma (Epic Semi) on the Compute track to discuss the future of efficient inference hardware. A key takeaway from Sylvain on solving the memory wall without resetting silicon investments: "We take a practical approach: giving system architects a seamless memory tier on top of their existing logic so they can break memory bottlenecks without
- Memory First. Great to hear this message so clearly at AI Infra summit this morning. And exactly why Sylvain Dubois and the team at Vertical Compute are rethinking memory for AI. #AI #Memory #AIIfrastructure
- Catch our CEO Sylvain Dubois on stage at the AI Infra Summit on September 15, and discover how we are breaking the memory wall, to power the next era of AI scaling #AIInfraSummit #AIHardware #MemoryWall #Semiconductors #AICompute
- Vertical Compute is heading to Cambridge. Our CEO, Sylvain Dubois, will be there on August 4–5 to connect with partners and discuss the future of AI and memory. Reach out if you’d like to meet.
- We just dropped a deep dive into the 'memory wall' and why data movement, not raw compute, defines the next era of AI scaling. Check out the full insights from the team below! 👇
- Amazing opportunity to share VerticalCompute´s ambition at the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition. Our CEO Sylvain Dubois took the mic in front of a curated list of Silicon Valley´s financial and strategic investors . Thanks a lot Kevin Chen, PhD, Dr. Yvonne Lutsch and Lam Research for organizing and hosting such event.
- Our CEO Sylvain Dubois at the #ITFWorld Deeptech at Scale: Overcoming barriers to bring breakthroughs to industry panel with Sara Soliman, Siraj Nour ElAhmadi, Ganesh Venkataramanan, Michael Ebner, and Olivier Rousseaux. "We bring the data closer to compute, a million times closer. That matters a lot, because moving electrons, consumes 100x more than performing math functions". And guess what, it is not a SRAM bitcell, it is not a DRAM bitcell. #ITFWorld2026 #VerticalCompute #DeepTech #AI
- Belgische start-up Vertical Compute haalt 37 miljoen op om AI goedkoper te maken04/03 Vertical Compute, een spin-off van het Leuvense onderzoeksinstituut Imec, haalt in een kapitaalronde 37 miljoen euro op, na een eerste ronde van 20 miljoen eind 2024. Het bedrijf ontwikkelt technologi...
De Tijd Halfgeleiders · 4 Mar 2026
Backers
imec.xpand
Independent deep-tech VC linked to imec, focused on semiconductors and nanotechnology with EUR 300M under management.
Related profiles
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