Euclyd negotiates fundraising of R$588 million for AI chips with a focus on efficiency
Dutch startup Euclyd seeks to raise at least €100 million, equivalent to approximately US$118 million or R$588.8 million, in negotiations with global investors. Fundada in 2024 and headquartered in Eindhoven, the company develops processors specialized in artificial intelligence inference, a stage in which already trained models perform tasks with high efficiency. Founder and CEO Bernardo Kastrup confirmed the conversations in a recent interview. The funds raised will be used to expand the technology and start commercial operations.
Movimento of European startups in the AI chip market
Outras companies from the European continent are also seeking significant contributions in this strategic segment. The British Optalysys plans to raise more than US$100 million in 2026. The startups Fractile, from Reino Unido, and Arago, from França, are in advanced discussions for investment rounds in the nine-figure range. Investidores committed more than US$200 million in 2026 alone to Dutch Axelera and British Olix, signaling growing confidence in local solutions.
The movement occurs while the global market for chips for artificial intelligence records strong expansion. Startups from the continent accelerate efforts to compete for space in a segment dominated by Nvidia. The main focus is on inference, where energy efficiency and operational cost gain special relevance in relation to model training.
More on this story: Nvidia’s European rival plans to raise R$588 million with a focus on energy efficiency for AI
Euclyd’s Innovative Arquitetura Promises Significant Gains
Euclyd develops chips that, according to the company, deliver up to 100 times more energy efficiency in inference tasks compared to the Vera Rubin generation of Nvidia. The startup replaces the traditional GPU approach with an architecture that processes data at multiple points simultaneously. Essa solution reduces energy consumption and physical space required in data centers, two critical factors for AI infrastructure operators.
- Euclyd negotiates minimum investment of €100 million to scale production
- Optalysys plans to raise over US$100 million in 2026
- Fractile and Arago seek nine-figure investment rounds
- Axelera and Olix have already received more than US$200 million in 2026
The company has already completed an inference chip and is currently working on a more advanced multi-chiplet system. The commercial launch is scheduled for 2028. Kastrup highlighted that Euclyd is already negotiating with four potential customers, with the expectation of serving two of them from next year and the rest the following year. The startup has support from former ASML executives, including former CEO Peter Wennink as an investor and strategic mentor.
Contexto in the fight for alternatives to Nvidia’s solutions
Nvidia consolidated its dominant position with GPUs initially designed for games and later adapted for training artificial intelligence models. The company invested more than US$18 billion in research and development in the last fiscal year ending in January 2026. In December, it acquired assets from startup Groq for US$20 billion. In March, it announced an investment of US$4 billion in two companies focused on photonic technology.
The market gradually migrates towards inference, where operational efficiency gains greater relevance than training. European Startups argue that their solutions best meet this specific demand. Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, director of Nato Innovation Fund, noted that risks of concentration on single suppliers and the need for computational sovereignty drive investments on the European continent.
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British company Olix works with photonic processors for artificial intelligence. Investidores like Taavet Hinrikus, from Plural, point out that current electronic architecture reaches limits in miniaturization and heat management. Light-based Plataformas would represent the next significant technological advancement. Olix is also targeting its first customers for next year.
Desafios structural and funding disparity
Startups in the sector still encounters significant obstacles in the European ecosystem. The chip development cycle is long and the path from prototype to scaled production requires robust infrastructure and continuous investment. The continent lacks an equivalent to the American DARPA for strategic financing of innovation in critical technologies.
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Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO of Axelera, mentioned that European governments adopt a conservative stance towards new and high-risk companies. Fragmented labor legislation between countries makes international hiring difficult. Além Furthermore, there is a lack of strong incentives for consumption of local products compared to established American solutions.
According to data from Dealroom, European artificial intelligence chip startups raised US$800 million in 2026. In the same period, Estados Unidos’s competitors raised US$4.7 billion. American Exemplos include Cerebras Systems, which raised $1 billion in February, and others like MatX, Ayar Labs and Etched, each with $500 million rounds. Mesmo with lower values, investor interest in European solutions for artificial intelligence inference grows consistently. Carlos Espinal, partner at Seedcamp, stated that the topic is no longer a niche bet and has become part of the center of discussions on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Perspectivas future and next steps
Euclyd plans to use the proceeds from the new round to scale production and advance strategic commercial partnerships. The company already collaborates with ADTechnology, from Coreia and Sul, to develop optimized silicon solutions. The goal is to reduce costs and energy footprint of data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence. Outras European companies follow similar trajectories, focusing on photonics or specialized architectures for inference. The move reflects broader efforts to strengthen the continent’s industrial capacity in advanced semiconductors.
