NcodiN, a pioneering tech company in optical interposer technology, has successfully secured €3.5 million from top-tier European deep tech investors Elaia, Earlybird and OVNI Capital. NcodiN aims to revolutionize the semiconductor industry and meet demand for innovative technologies to keep up with the pace of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads. This funding round will focus on accelerating the development of NcodiN’s integrated optical link prototype (MVP) while fueling the company’s expansion, enabling rapid growth to address the needs of industrial clients.
NcodiN is poised to disrupt the industry with its innovative approach, tailored to meet the evolving needs of scalers like Nvidia, Intel and Qualcomm. With the explosion of AI, processors’ scaling is a key focus: major players in the industry eagerly await the company’s MVP to pave the way for the adoption of optical interposer technology in next processor generations.
“This investment is a testament to the groundbreaking work we are doing at NcodiN. Our unique technology and innovative approach, combined with the support of eminent advisors and strategic Deeptech investors, position us for success in the AI and Semiconductor world,” said Francesco Manegatti, Co-founder and CEO at NcodiN.
Scalers have recently operated a paradigm shift in processor’s design by adopting disaggregated architectures, where an ensemble of chiplets is packaged on – and interconnected through – an interposer chip. Traditional electrical interconnects based on copper wires have reached their limit and represent the major bottleneck within the scaling roadmap of these advanced systems. Optical interconnects are essential to break the “copper wall”.
Unlike competitors, NcodiN leverages a unique and proprietary technology which offers unparalleled performance and efficiency, paving the way to Petabit/second data traffic for a power budget of less than 100 fJ/bit. NcodiN’s secret sauce relies on the on-chip integration of ultra-small nanolasers and nanodetectors that enable ultra-high integration density – more than 10,000 components per cm2. This technology unlocks high-speed, reliable and energy-efficient data transmission for adopters, allowing the scaling of their high-end processor architectures dedicated to extremely heavy supercomputing workloads.
Supported by distinguished advisors, including international executives such as Léo Apotheker (previous CEO at HP and SAP) and Éric Meurice (former CEO at ASML), NcodiN demonstrates the potential of its vision and the quality of its team. These advisors bring a wealth of experience and expertise to guide the company towards achieving its ambitious goals.
“Francesco, Bruno, Fabrice and the NcodiN team have identified a unique opportunity in transforming the semiconductor industry with a new approach to photonic links. Leveraging 15 years of R&D and patented innovation, they are developing a groundbreaking optical datalink for the future of AI & HPC chips. We are proud to back them since the early days!” commented Clément Vanden Driessche, Investment Director at Elaia.
“We’re delighted to become part of the journey with the NcodiN team around Francesco, Bruno, and Fabrice. We’re convinced by their excellent research and excited about the commercial prospective it generates. Promising times ahead!” added Dr. Frédéric du Bois-Reymond, Partner at Earlybird-X.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/05/paris-based-ncodin-raises-e3-5-million-to-push-the-limits-of-ai-processors/
