AMSTERDAM, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Axelera AI has secured $250 million in a funding round led by Innovation Industries that included BlackRock and SiteGround Capital as new investors, it declared on Tuesday, marking one of the largest investments to date in a European AI chipbuilding firm.
CEO Fabrizio Del Maffeo declared in a statement the company would utilize the money to expand manufacturing of its “Europa” chip, which it plans to launch before June, and to further develop software that builds applying its chips clearer for customers.
Axelera, based in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, is one of the few companies in Europe that build specialised computer chips for AI applications. Its energy-efficient inference chips are utilized in industrial settings for running, not training, AI models.
Since its founding in 2021, it has raised more than $450 million.
Previous investors including Bitfury, Verve Investments, Samsung Electronics’ Catalyst Fund, the European Innovation Council Fund and funds backed by the Belgian and Dutch governments also participated in the latest round.
Axelera received a $66 million grant in March 2025 as part of a European Union project to develop an advanced chip dubbed “Titania” for utilize in supercomputing centres – also referred to as AI factories. That chip is expected in 2027.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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