EUCLYD Raises More Than €200 Million for Non-GPU AI Inference Systems

The Eindhoven startup is pursuing a processor, memory and data-center design built for running AI models. Its efficiency and cost claims remain unproven at commercial scale.

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EUCLYD Raises More Than €200 Million for Non-GPU AI Inference Systems
EUCLYD Raises More Than €200 Million for Non-GPU AI Inference Systems

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EUCLYD has raised more than 200 million euros to build an alternative to the graphics processors that currently dominate high-end AI computing. The Eindhoven startup is taking an unusually broad approach: it is designing the processor, the memory architecture, and the data-center system together, specifically for AI inference—the step where a trained model generates an answer. Samsung co-led the Series A alongside Somerset Capital Partners, EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund, and Innovation Industries. The company also appointed former ASML chief executive Peter Wennink as board chairman. Samsung’s involvement could extend beyond funding, with potential support in memory manufacturing, engineering, systems, and supply chains. EUCLYD says its platform, branded craftwerk, is intended to use less energy and reduce the cost of producing each AI token. Its planned data-center system is called craftwerk station, or CWS. That is a different proposition from selling a standalone accelerator: EUCLYD wants to sell complete, self-hosted inference racks to enterprises, while also licensing its technology to other chip developers. The important caveat is that the efficiency and cost claims are still company targets, not results demonstrated at commercial scale. EUCLYD says physical systems could begin rolling out in 2028, with thousands of enterprise customers by 2030. So the decisive test is whether those first deployments can prove that an integrated design works economically beyond the lab and can scale into a real customer base.

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3 key points

EUCLYD is raising over €200 million to develop an integrated AI-inference platform combining proprietary chips, memory architecture and data-center systems, rather than selling a GPU-like processor alone. Samsung and several European funds backed the Series A, while former ASML CEO Peter Wennink became board chairman. The company plans physical system rollouts in 2028 and thousands of enterprise customers by 2030,...

  1. 01

    EUCLYD plans to sell self-hosted inference racks to enterprises and license its technology to other chip developers.

  2. 02

    Samsung may contribute memory manufacturing, engineering, systems and supply-chain capabilities alongside its investment.

  3. 03

    The platform is branded craftwerk; its planned data-center system is called craftwerk station, or CWS.

EUCLYD has raised more than €200 million for a bet on a different way to run powerful AI models. The Eindhoven-based startup is developing chips, memory architecture and data-center systems as one platform for AI inference, with Samsung among the investors backing the effort.

The Series A was co-led by Samsung, Somerset Capital Partners, EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund and Innovation Industries. EIFO, imec.xpand, Brabant Development Agency and Quadri also participated. EUCLYD also named former ASML president and chief executive Peter Wennink as chairman of its board.

A design aimed at inference, not GPU imitation

Inference is the task of generating an output from an AI model. EUCLYD is targeting that task with a system whose processor and memory architecture differs from GPUs, CNBC reported. The company’s approach is to design those components alongside the data-center system, rather than present a processor as a standalone product.

EUCLYD calls its chip architecture craftwerk and its planned data-center system craftwerk station CWS. It says the platform is intended to lower the energy and cost of AI infrastructure, but those outcomes are company aims rather than independently established results.

Capital for the system and its route to market

  • Expand EUCLYD’s engineering organization and accelerate its silicon and systems roadmap.
  • Strengthen ecosystem partnerships and prepare for commercial deployment across enterprise, sovereign and hyperscale AI markets.
  • Sell hardware and physical racks for self-hosted enterprise inference, while licensing intellectual property to other chip developers.

Samsung’s role may extend beyond capital. Chief executive Bernardo Kastrup told CNBC that Samsung could offer memory-manufacturing, engineering, systems and supply-chain expertise—capabilities relevant to EUCLYD’s attempt to integrate several hardware layers.

The commercial test remains ahead

But EUCLYD’s systems have not been proven at commercial scale. Kastrup told CNBC the company aims to begin rolling out physical chip systems in 2028 and serve thousands of enterprise customers by 2030. Those targets make the first customer deployments the key test of whether its integrated design can meet its stated economic goals.

Sources

  1. prnewswire.comEUCLYD Raises Over €200 Million to Break the AI Efficiency Wall
  2. cnbc.comSamsung backs Nvidia AI chip rival in $230 million funding round as GPU alternatives boom
  3. ioplus.nlEindhoven-based AI startup EUCLYD raises more than €200M

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