German chip startup FMC secured €100M to scale its new DRAM+ technology, designed to make computers and AI systems run faster and more efficiently.
Dresden, Germany-based FMC, a semiconductor and memory chip company, has raised €100M, out of which €77M in equity comes from an oversubscribed Series C financing round led by HV Capital and DTCF.
This latest funding round marks one of the largest raises of its kind in the European semiconductor industry.
Fabian Gruner, Partner at HV Capital, says, “FMC’s highly innovative memory chip technology is unique and has the potential to redefine global industry standards. We are proud to back its commercialisation through our commitment.”
An additional €23M has been sourced through public funds, including contributions from the IPCEI ME/CT program and the European Innovation Council (EIC).
The equity round is led by HV Capital and the DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF), along with Vsquared Ventures. Returning investors include eCAPITAL, Bosch Ventures, Air Liquide Venture Capital, M Ventures (Merck), and Verve Ventures.
The funding will accelerate the commercialisation of the company’s DRAM+ and 3D CHACHE+ memory chips and system solutions and expand its global presence.
Thomas Rückes, CEO of FMC, says, “We are working on the next generation of memory chips and system solutions that are not only more sustainable and energy efficient, but also faster and less expensive than the current industry standard. While bandwidth has so far been the dominant metric of AI compute, energy efficiency is now becoming the key factor for the next generation of AI. Memory chips are the main bottleneck in the AI stack. FMC’s DRAM+ and 3D CACHE+ technology addresses precisely this issue: Faster and more energy efficient than established products. This lays the foundation for scaling up AI data centres and AI edge applications.”
FMC: Revolutionising memory chip technology
Founded in 2016, FMC develops a revolutionary memory chip technology.
Based on the thin-film material hafnium oxide, the company has created a new class of memory cells with its DRAM+ chip, which is more sustainable, faster, and cost-efficient.
As per the company’s claims, the technology significantly reduces the energy demand of AI data centres, laying the foundation for their scale-up in Europe and worldwide.
FMC is now a fabless company, meaning it designs, develops, and markets its own products while outsourcing production to contract manufacturers (chip foundries).
When FMC’s technologies replace traditional memory, the efficiency of high-performance databases and the speed of energy-efficient AI applications could improve by more than 100%.
This is because persistent DRAM+ and 3D-CACHE+ replace volatile memory, eliminating slow data transfers between fast volatile memory and slower non-volatile storage.
FMC is working with major DRAM manufacturers and advanced logic foundries to produce its DRAM+ and 3D-CACHE+ products in high-volume factories around the world, focusing on energy-efficient applications
Dr. Torsten Löffler, Investment Director at the DTCF, says, “By tackling the growing energy needs of AI infrastructure, FMC’s memory technology enables more efficient computing. We are convinced by its technological excellence made in Germany and its strategic role in strengthening Europe’s semiconductor sovereignty.”
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