Innatera raises $21M to bring neuromorphic AI to 1 billion devices by 2030

Innatera, a pioneer in ultra-low power neuromorphic processors, announced the successful closing of an oversubscribed Series A funding round, raising a total of $21 million. This significant investment includes an initial $16 million secured in March 2024 and an additional $5 million from new investors. Innavest and InvestNL led this round, joining existing investors EIC Fund, MIG Capital, Matterwave Ventures and Delft Enterprises.

The company’s CEO, Sumeet Kumar, expressed his excitement about the strong investor support, highlighting the revolutionary potential of Innatera’s neuromorphic processors. “We are excited about the tremendous support from investors, which highlights the enormous potential of our neuromorphic processors. Innatera’s latest offering is radical in terms of architecture and performance, yet only scratches the surface of what neuromorphic computing can do at the edge. I am excited about the opportunities ahead and the work we will do to realize the full potential of this technology together with our customers and strategic partners. This Series A financing will accelerate our journey towards mass production and enable us to meet the growing demand for energy-efficient computing solutions.Kumar said. The funding will accelerate Innatera’s path to mass production to meet growing demand for energy-efficient computing solutions and provide intelligence to one billion devices by 2030.

Innatera’s flagship product, Spiking Neural Processor T1, introduced in January 2024, represents a significant advancement in energy-efficient AI for sensor-edge applications. This processor integrates a proprietary event-driven computation engine with a conventional CNN accelerator and a RISC-V processor, creating a versatile platform for ultra-low-power artificial intelligence in battery-powered devices. The T1 processor has demonstrated its capabilities in a variety of applications, including wearables, smart home devices, and consumer electronics.

Demand for differentiated, energy-efficient AI solutions at the edge is growing rapidly, driven by the growing sensor market and environmental sustainability concerns. Innatera’s approach meets these needs by offering an innovative mixed-analog neuromorphic architecture. This architecture enables real-time analysis of sensor data with minimal power dissipation and latency, making it ideal for always-on scenarios.

The Series A funding will also support the company’s goal to begin mass production of the Spiking T1 neural processor by Q2 2025. This progress is crucial as vendors develop advanced cloud-agnostic AI applications driven by power constraints, privacy and latency concerns .

Kjelle Blom, Managing Partner of Innavest, praised Innatera’s impressive achievements and the potential of its neuromorphic technology. “Innera’s track record is impressive – extraordinary capital efficiency, a fantastic team and a product that can impact every aspect of our lives. Innavest is excited to leverage our strategic expertise and network to support Innatera’s mission.” – said Blom.

To further support its growth, Innatera has appointed Duco Pasmooij, former vice president of Apple, to its advisory board. Pasmooij highlighted the importance of silicon innovations such as the Spiking Neural Processor T1 in unlocking value in the consumer electronics space, expressing his enthusiasm in advising Innatera’s executive team.

Born from ten years of research at Delft University of Technology, Innatera is a pioneer of energy-efficient neuromorphic computing. The company’s goal is to make the world smarter, safer and cleaner through innovative microprocessors that give sensors brain-like intelligence. Backed by leading European deeptech VCs Matterwave Ventures, MIG Capital, European Innovation Council and Delft Enterprises, Innatera is on a mission to make one billion sensors smart by 2030.

Innatera’s Spiking family of neural processors offers ultra-low power consumption and high pattern recognition performance at the sensor edge, enabling real-time analysis of sensor data with sub-milliwatt power dissipation and sub-millisecond latency. This technology is essential for performing common sensing tasks in applications such as audio interfaces, non-contact interfaces, presence detection, activity recognition, and ECG signal processing.

The company’s vision goes beyond technological innovation, focusing on creating a seamless integration of electronic devices into everyday life. Innatera believes in the power of technology to solve pressing climate, security and accessibility challenges, guided by a strong set of values ​​that emphasize innovation, customer value, growth mindset, care for people, teamwork and competitiveness.

More information about Innatera’s breakthrough technology can be found at innetera.com.