GEMESYS secures €8.6M pre-seed funding

Participation from NRW.BANK, Sony Innovation Fund, and Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play Tech Centtr, as well as grant funding from the German government, complemented the round.

With this new funding, GEMESYS will accelerate research and development and expand its team to further advance its novel chip architecture. The company is now actively hiring for roles, including Senior C++ Developer and Senior Simulation Engineer, to build on its promising technological foundation.

Europe’s solution to tech independence

As AI hardware innovations are predominantly led by Asia and the US, GEMESYS emerges as Europe’s answer to the demand for technological independence and innovation. With a mission to establish a European counterweight in the global AI landscape, GEMESYS presents an innovative solution proudly developed in Germany. Backed by the German government and through the EXIST “Transfer of Research” funding program, GEMESYS is pioneering new AI innovation that has the potential to revolutionise the industry.

This advancement signals a rising star in AI hardware and highlights Europe’s capability to lead in tech. It offers an alternative rooted in data privacy, efficiency, and sustainable development. GEMESYS’s commitment to on-device AI training represents a giant leap forward for technological sovereignty, putting Germany and Europe firmly on the map as formidable forces in AI.

GEMESYS has already built a working hardware demonstrator and anticipates upcoming silicon testing, which will showcase the full potential of its revolutionary AI chip. Ion Hauer of APEX Ventures expressed his support, saying, “We’re excited to see GEMESYS redefine what’s possible in Edge AI. Its technology can transform countless industries and push the boundaries of on-device inference and training.”

Redefining AI technology

GEMESYS is advancing the field of AI by making on-device training possible and efficient. This groundbreaking chip is designed to operate with unparalleled data and energy efficiency, allowing it to train neural networks with a fraction of the data required by conventional architectures. This breakthrough opens up a new range of mobile device and sensor applications, enabling them to process and learn directly from data at its source.

“GEMESYS is reinventing AI hardware with a truly innovative approach to edge intelligence. Its technology isn’t just an incremental improvement—it’s a game-changer,” says Quentin Calleja from Atlantic Labs.

“GEMESYS’s innovative architecture addresses the long-standing ‘von Neumann bottleneck’ while maintaining solid roots in CMOS technology essential for the supply chain. We’re thrilled to support the GEMESYS team as they pioneer a new era of energy-efficient computing,” said Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director – EMEA at Sony Ventures.

By supporting self-learning and distributed capabilities such as outlier detection, data drift management, and model personalisation, GEMESYS is demonstrating its transformative impact across diverse industries. This approach brings substantial advantages, including enhanced data privacy, offline processing, and reduced bandwidth usage—critical factors for IoT providers.

Furthermore, GEMESYS introduces an innovative training methodology that compresses neural networks, boosting efficiency for inferencing tasks. With its advanced capabilities, GEMESYS is setting a new standard for AI training on edge devices, positioning itself as a must-have for IoT solutions globally.

Founded by Dr. Dennis Michaelis, Dr. Enver Solan, Moritz Schmidt, and Daniel Krüger, GEMESYS is based in Bochum, Germany. Its growing team of 19 includes five female members and five employees from diverse international backgrounds. GEMESYS is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture as it pursues its mission to revolutionise AI on edge devices.