Chiplet startup, 19-page PPT raised $40 million

Latest update time：2024-03-26

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Chip interconnect startup Eliyan Corp. announced today that it has secured $60 million in new funding from a group of high-profile investors.

Samsung Catalyst Fund and Tiger Global led the Series B round. They have been joined by several other institutional backers, including Intel Capital and SK Hynix Corp., one of the world's largest memory chip makers. This financing follows Eliyan’s $40 million Series A funding round in 2022.

Ramin Farjadrad, co-founder and CEO of Eliyan, said: “This investment reflects our confidence in our approach to integrated multi-chip architectures that address key challenges such as high cost, low yields, power consumption, manufacturing complexity and size constraints. ”

Many of the most advanced processors on the market are based on so-called chiplet architectures. Chiplet-based processors contain multiple semiconductor modules that are produced separately, sometimes in separate factories, and assembled after manufacturing. These modules are connected together using components called interconnects to form a single product.

Eliyan offers an interconnect technology called NuLink. In addition to connecting chiplets to processors, the technology is also suitable for connecting processors to memory modules. Some chips, especially AI accelerators, contain large amounts of integrated memory for holding application data.

The company says NuLink can deliver four times the performance of competing technologies at half the cost. This allows chipmakers to design faster, more energy-efficient processors.

According to Eliyan, one contributor to NuLink's speed is a feature called simultaneous bidirectional signaling. Many interconnects use thin wires to connect small chips together. Typically, each such line can only send or receive data at any given time, but not simultaneously. Eliyan's simultaneous bidirectional signaling feature allows each line to send and receive data simultaneously, effectively doubling its performance.

In addition to increasing chip speed, NuLink can simplify processor development, the company said.

The interconnection is usually implemented in the form of a so-called interposer. It's a flat, rectangular piece of silicon that both moves data between the processor's chiplets and serves as the processor's base layer. During the manufacturing process, chiplets are placed on top of the interposer.

Interposers enable fast data transfer, but can be difficult to design and manufacture. Eliyan said its NuLink technology offers a simpler alternative that reduces the effort of developing new processors. Additionally, the company said its technology can also enhance interposer-based chips "for the absolute maximum performance" through onboard interconnects.

Eliyan’s latest funding round comes on the heels of a major technology milestone. The company revealed today that it recently completed a new iteration of NuLink based on TSMC's latest three-nanometer manufacturing process. According to the company, the upgraded interconnect can handle up to 64 gigabytes per second of data traffic per link.

It also previously raised $40 million from investors including Intel and Micron

Chipmakers are finding that semiconductors cannot continue to get smaller and more powerful, signaling the ultimate end of the Moore's Law principle named after Intel founder Gordon Moore. But companies are struggling to come to terms with this, and while this may no longer be physically feasible, there are still demands for smaller sizes and increased power.

Eliyan, a Santa Clara, California-based startup that is developing technology that allows chips to interconnect, is trying to solve this problem and in November 2022 raised $40 million in Series A funding from Tracker Capital, Intel Capital and Micron led the investment. The company is betting that companies will want to use existing technology to connect chips to do more in a smaller footprint. Its founder and CEO, Ramin Farjadrad, told Insider that the company sells to investors by solving geopolitical issues and mastering technical details.

Eliyan's Nulink technology connects chips, a task that typically requires more advanced hardware. Typically, companies use a device called a silicon interposer, which connects the chips but reduces performance and increases power consumption. Intermediaries are sold primarily by companies outside the United States.

Farjadrad said that unlike conventional silicon interposers, Eliyan uses organic interposers, which are different materials that are easier to manufacture.

"Our technology and our plans are very strategic," Farjadrad said. “We look at it from two angles: creating a path to the ultimate chiplet solution while minimizing the risk of semiconductor manufacturing.”

Risks related to semiconductor manufacturing originate from TSMC, Farjadrad said. TSMC, based in Taiwan off the coast of China, produces more than half of the world's chips, and concerns about global chip supplies have grown as China threatens action against the self-ruled island.

Farjadrad said that while Eliyan has attracted interest and investment from major companies such as Intel, its main focus is on developing its technology to prove it works and attract more chipmakers to join. With the semiconductor industry so entrenched, Farjadrad knew it would be important to convince more large companies to adopt Eliyan's technology.

"We create a lot of excitement among these companies," Farjadrad said. "The challenge is to get these people to do something like this for their next generation. That's what comes next."

19 Slides Eliyan Used to Raise $40M Series A

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https://siliconangle.com/2024/03/25/samsung-co-leads-60m-funding-round-chip-interconnect-startup-eliyan/

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