Semiconductor company FMC has secured €100 million in new capital to accelerate the commercialization of its next-generation DRAM+ and 3D CACHE+ memory technologies as global demand for energy-efficient AI infrastructure continues to grow. The raise combines €77 million in oversubscribed Series C equity financing with €23 million in public funding sourced from the IPCEI ME/CT program and the European Innovation Council, making it one of the largest semiconductor funding rounds in Europe.
The Series C round is led by HV Capital and the DeepTech & Climate Fonds, with additional participation from Vsquared Ventures. Returning backers include eCAPITAL, Bosch Ventures, Air Liquide Venture Capital, M Ventures, and Verve Ventures. FMC will use the new capital to scale commercialization efforts and expand its international footprint as global AI workloads drive unprecedented demand for high-performance memory solutions.
FMC’s DRAM+ and 3D CACHE+ technology is designed to deliver significantly higher efficiency, faster processing speeds, and more sustainable performance for AI data centers and AI edge applications. The company’s memory chips can increase system efficiency and processing speeds by more than 100% compared to established solutions by eliminating the performance and energy bottlenecks created by today’s volatile memory architectures.
The rise of AI has placed extraordinary pressure on global energy systems, with next-generation data centers projected to consume a large share of global electricity production. FMC’s persistent memory technologies are positioned to alleviate this challenge by reducing the energy required to move and process data across compute hierarchies. These improvements have the potential to reshape the €100+ billion global memory market, which remains dominated by manufacturers in South Korea, the United States, and Taiwan. FMC aims to establish Europe as a credible presence in this strategically important segment.
The company has begun working with leading logic foundries and DRAM chip manufacturers to bring its high-volume 300mm production plans to market for specific energy-efficient customer applications. Its technology also holds the potential to enable higher memory densities than conventional architectures.
Founded in Dresden in 2016, FMC is built on thin-film hafnium oxide materials and has created a new class of memory cells, DRAM+, that are faster, more sustainable, and more cost-efficient than prevailing industry solutions. FMC operates as a fabless company and is backed by a global group of semiconductor and deep tech investors, including SK hynix and TEL.
KEY QUOTES:
“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. Securing an equity financing of this magnitude emphasizes the significance of our technology, and we are grateful to have earned the trust of leading deep-tech investors for our vision.”
Thomas Rückes, CEO of FMC
“FMC’s highly innovative memory chip technology is unique and has the potential redefine global industry standards. We are proud to back its commercialization through our commitment.”
Fabian Gruner, Partner at HV Capital
“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.”
Dr. Torsten Löffler, Investment Director at the DTCF
“From day one, we have been supporting FMC on its impressive growth journey. Pilot results confirm design wins with leading OEMs, and the roadmap for production and commercialization is in place. FMC demonstrates that deep tech from Europe can deliver and has the potential to take the lead in the memory chips of the future.”
Paul-Josef Patt, Managing Partner at eCAPITAL
If you want, I can also prepare a shorter version, an investor-focused version, or a version optimized for LinkedIn or a press release summary.
