Axelera AI, a leading provider of hardware acceleration technologies for generative AI and computer vision based in Silicon Valley (California) and in The Netherlands, announced the closing of a 68 million USD Series B funding round (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company raised a total of 120 million since its foundation. Axelera AI received money from Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, European Innovation Council Fund, Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund (backed by Dutch pension funds PMT and PME, administered by MN), and Samsung Catalyst Fund in addition to existing investors Verve Ventures, Innovation Industries, Fractionelera, and CDP Venture Capital. Axelera will invest such proceeds in its proprietary technology (digital in-memory computing and RISC-V), organic growth, expansion in North America, Europe and the Middle East, and vertical markets such as automotive, digital health, Industry 4.0, retail, robots and drones, surveillance and others. Fabrizio del Maffeo (ceo) and Evangelos Eleftheriou (chief technology officer) founded the company in 2019 with the name Bitfury AI as part of Bitfury Group, a blockchain and crypto technology operator.
Muffin, an Italian AI-based fintech startup for SMEs lending, attracted pre-seed resources of 3.2 million euros from tech and finance investors (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The company’s partners aree Victor Massiah, Francesco Guarneri, Alessandro Messina, Guido Frisiani, Giancarlo Pozzoli, Leonardo Quattrucci, and Simone Severini. Michele Bonelli (ceo), Lorenzo Maternini and Feat. Ventures, a venture builderof Fabio Sferruzzi and Matteo Gallo, founded Muffin in 2022. The company will invest these resources in its organic development.
Styleit, an acceleration programme for fashion tech startups that develop sustainable and innovative solutions that CDP Venture Capital, Azimut Digitech Fund, Startupbootcamp, and Gellify created in 2023 with 5.64 million euros worth of resources, attracted an investment from Crédit Agricole Italia. (see here a previous post by BeeBeez) FNDX and Open Seed provide Styleit with advisory services for selecting the startups that can join the programme. Polimoda, a Florence-based fashion school, acts as educational partner and hosts the acceleration programme in its premises. Styleit also benefits from the support of Corporate Partners Ratti B-Corp, Brunello Cucinelli, Gucci, PVH Corp, MICAM Milano, Fondazione del Tessile Italiano, and Manifattura Tabacchi. Styleit’s project has a time span of three years and envisages the involvement of about 10 start-ups per year, which will receive a pre-seed investment in the region of 0.113 million and will be able to participate in subsequent post-acceleration funding of up to 0.2 million. The second edition of the programme will start in early July.
