Netherlands-based chip startup Axelera AI B.V. today announced that it has secured a $27 million early-stage funding round. The Series A investment was led by venture capital firm Innovation Industries. The Federal Holding and Investment Company of Belgium participated as well along with imec.xpand, a venture fund associated with the IMEC nanotechnology research lab. Axelera AI detailed today that it has also secured a $6.7 million loan from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Founded in 2021, Axelera AI is developing a chip optimized to run artificial intelligence software at the edge of the network, or outside data centers.

Axelera AI, a Dutch AI semiconductor start-up, has emerged from stealth with £8.7 million in seed round funding. The funding was led by Axelera's incubator company, Bitfury, a security and infrastructure provider for the Bitcoin blockchain. Nanoelectronics R&D centre imec and venture capital Innovation Industries also participated in the seed round. Axelera is developing a chipset to accelerate AI and machine learning algorithms at the edge. The startup claims that its product will use minimal power consumption at a greatly reduced price compared to its competitors.