SiPearl, the semiconductor startup driving Europe’s push for sovereignty in high-performance computing and AI, has closed its historic €130 million Series A financing round with a final €32 million tranche. This marks the largest Series A raise in the European fabless semiconductor sector to date.
Founded in January 2020 under the European Processor Initiative (EPI) and initially seed-funded by the European Union, SiPearl is building the next generation of high-performance, energy-efficient processors designed for supercomputing, AI inference, and strategic industrial applications.
Introducing Rhea1: A European Powerhouse Processor
Central to SiPearl’s mission is Rhea1, the most advanced processor ever designed in Europe. Featuring 80 Arm Neoverse V1 cores and over 61 billion transistors, Rhea1 recently completed its tape-out and has been handed off to Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s leading semiconductor foundry, for manufacturing. Sampling is expected to begin in early 2026.
Built for traditional HPC workloads and AI inference, Rhea1 supports major programming languages (C/C++, GO, RUST) and AI frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch). Its generous memory capacity and high-bandwidth in-package HBM give it a leading byte-per-flop ratio for extraordinary performance and energy efficiency.
Flagship Projects and Strategic Applications
Rhea1 is set to power the CPU cluster of JUPITER, the first European exascale supercomputer, operated by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany. It will also be integral to a suite of sovereign European technology projects including Aero, OpenCUBE, HIGHER, and Riser (for European cloud), as well as Excellerat, MAX, ODISSEE, and Plasma-PEPSC (for simulation in engineering, materials, plasma physics, and even dark matter research).
Investor Confidence and Global Strategic Alliances
The third tranche of the Series A round is backed by:
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The European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, the EU’s deep-tech investor supporting disruptive technologies.
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French Tech Souveraineté, part of the France 2030 plan led by the French Prime Minister’s office.
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Cathay Venture, a Taiwanese private equity firm making its first French investment. A subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holdings Co. (assets over $400 billion), Cathay Venture is building a semiconductor-heavy portfolio and sees complementary strengths between European and Taiwanese tech ecosystems.
SiPearl’s total investment portfolio now includes notable names such as Arm, Atos Group (via Eviden), European Investment Bank (EIB), and a banking pool led by Caisse d’Epargne Rhône-Alpes.
Forging Stronger Ties with Taiwan
From day one, SiPearl has cultivated deep relationships with Taiwan. CEO Philippe Notton previously spent seven years at MStar (now part of MediaTek). The company’s Chief Scientist is French-Taiwanese, and MStar’s founder serves as an independent board director. TSMC has handled SiPearl’s manufacturing since inception.
“Today’s geopolitical and economic context confirms the vision that led to SiPearl’s inception,” said Notton. “Sovereign hardware is mandatory to ensure Europe’s independence in AI, security, and defence. By taping out the most complex processor ever designed in Europe, we are proving that Europe can compete on the global stage.”
Next Phase: Industrialization and Series B
With Series A now complete, SiPearl is accelerating the industrialization of Rhea1 and advancing R&D for future processors targeting AI, data centres, and enterprise markets. A Series B funding round is planned for the coming weeks.
As Europe positions itself for technological sovereignty, SiPearl stands at the forefront, blending European innovation with strategic global alliances to deliver a new generation of processors for the world’s most critical computing challenges.
