Example Sovereign Startups

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 Fortaegis is a deep-tech semiconductor company transforming how security is built into hardware. At its core, the firm is innovating a new breed of Secure Processing Unit (SPU)—manufactured using a cutting-edge 5 nm chip process—that integrates breakthroughs across hardware, firmware, and software to deliver both robust security and high performance.

What makes Fortaegis distinct is how it harnesses the physical, unpredictable “fingerprints” of each chip, turning these unique characteristics into cryptographic roots of trust. Instead of relying on stored keys or digital certificates, each SPU can independently generate secure authentication credentials based on its own intrinsic identity. This not only eliminates key storage vulnerabilities but also enables authentication processes that are dramatically faster and inherently quantum-resilient.

Fortaegis frames its Secure Processing Unit as a foundational shield—designed to safeguard distributed, high-performance applications that range from collaborative AI to autonomous systems and critical infrastructure. The company’s S1 system forms a configurable, hardware-rooted network fabric that enables secure, scalable, and trusted operations across diverse computing nodes.

Rooted in over 15 years of scientific research, Fortaegis’ architecture is already gaining momentum. The company is planning initial FPGA-based deployments by late 2025 and a full custom 5 nm chip by 2028. Their vision is to retrofit existing systems—rather than replace them—bringing ultra-secure capabilities to everything from defense networks to AI-empowered, edge-connected devices.

Backed by a recent $10 million seed round and entering into a strategic R&D and investment partnership with TNO, Fortaegis is well-positioned to accelerate its mission of embedding trust directly into semiconductors—creating a future where security, performance, and quantum readiness go hand in hand.

 Graphcore is a pioneering semiconductor company established in Bristol in 2016 by Nigel Toon and Simon Knowles. They set out to reshape the foundations of AI computing by engineering the Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU)—a chip built from the ground up to serve the demands of advanced machine learning workloads.

A Vision of Democratized Intelligence

Rooted in a belief in a future where people lead healthier, fairer, more informed, and sustainable lives, Graphcore aims to spark a new era of democratized intelligence. Their technology empowers innovators to build breakthroughs in machine intelligence, enhancing human potential across diverse domains.

Who They Are

Acquired by SoftBank in 2024, Graphcore continues to operate independently under its original name, fortified by new investment to drive growth and innovation. Anchored in Bristol, their team of seasoned hardware and software engineers—supported by leading global investors—is focused on pushing the boundaries of scalable AI compute.

From Vision to Hardware 

The IPU Journeyraphcore's flagship offering, the IPU, distinguishes itself by tightly coupling memory and compute so that entire models can live on the chip. This enables ultra-parallel, fine-grained processing tailored to graph-based machine learning. Their Poplar software stack and cloud/server IPU platforms bring these powerful capabilities to AI developers and enterprises, delivering speed and efficiency far beyond traditional GPU solutions.

Global Reach & Real-World Impact

With offices in Bristol, London, Cambridge, Gdańsk, and Hsinchu, Graphcore supports innovators worldwide in building AI-native products. Their tech is leveraged across industries—from finance, healthcare, and biotech to scientific research and internet services—accelerating developments in areas like language, vision, recommendation systems, and complex scientific modeling.

A Culture of Responsibility

Graphcore places strong emphasis on social responsibility and inclusion. Their internal culture thrives on diversity, ethical practice, and environmental awareness. The company fosters a welcoming environment where every voice is valued, and innovation is rooted in equity and respect.

Redefining Edge Intelligence

Axelera AI builds ultra-efficient hardware and software solutions designed for AI inference at the edge. Their mission? To shrink the power and cost of computational performance into compact, edge-ready chips without compromising on capability.

The Metis AI Platform

At the heart of their offering lies the Metis AIPU—a high-performance Inference Processing Unit that delivers impressive speed, energy efficiency, and precision. The Metis chips are available in compact form factors such as M.2 and PCIe cards, and are bundled with evaluation systems and development boards, making it easy for companies to integrate AI processing into everything from smart cameras and robotics to industrial automation and healthcare devices.

Voyager SDK & Software Ecosystem

To complement their hardware, Axelera offers the Voyager SDK, a developer-focused software stack that streamlines model deployment. It handles tasks like model optimization and quantization automatically—ensuring trained AI can run smoothly across both CPU and Metis hardware with minimal friction.

Vision & Origins

Founded in 2021 and headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the company emerged from collaborations with Bitfury and imec. Their leadership includes experienced AI hardware and software professionals who’ve previously worked at top-tier tech companies.

Expansion & Momentum

In March 2025, Axelera AI secured a major EU grant—up to €61.6 million—to develop their new Titania chip aimed at high-performance data center inference, tapping into the RISC-V architecture for open-standard acceleration. Meanwhile, they’ve already raised substantial private funding—reportedly around $200 million—and have rapidly scaled their team and chip development roadmap.

Real-World Impact

Axelera’s solutions are being used across a range of industries—such as security, retail, manufacturing, smart cities, healthcare, agriculture, robotics, space, and more. Their Metis hardware family enables users to run complex computer vision tasks at a fraction of the power and cost typical of GPU-based alternatives.

At a glance: SpinEdge.ai is an Israeli startup (established in 2022 and based in Haifa) developing next-generation AI hardware by harnessing spintronic analog technology for ultra-fast, energy-efficient neural network inference at the edge. (SpinEdge)

Key Innovation: Analog Computing Built with Spintronics

Conventional AI accelerators often rely on digital processing and memory, leading to delays and high energy consumption due to repeated conversions and data movement. SpinEdge’s technology sidesteps these limitations by embedding neural network weights directly into arrays of non‑volatile spintronic memory cells—effectively enabling computing within memorywhile processing analog inputs directly. (SpinEdge)

Performance Boosts That Matter

• Up to 100× faster performance on edge inference tasks compared to      traditional CPU-based architectures. (SpinEdge)  As much as 1000× improvement in energy efficiency, making it  particularly suited to power-constrained edge environments. (SpinEdge)      

Ideal for Instant, Event-Driven Applications

• Instant boot-up and neural network inference as soon as data arrives—no      warm-up time needed. (SpinEdge)  
• Non‑volatile architecture, meaning AI models persist even through      power interruptions—great for devices in hibernation or operating      intermittently. (SpinEdge) 

Flexibility and Adaptability

SpinEdge hardware allows pre-trained neural models to be updated remotely, offering adaptability without hardware changes.

Team & Tech Expertise

Founded by industry veterans in semiconductors, spintronics, and AI, SpinEdge leverages over 120+ years of collective R&D and business experience, anchored in Haifa, Israel. (SpinEdge)

With its analog, spintronic-based AI accelerator, SpinEdge.ai is redefining edge computing. By delivering ultra-fast, energy-efficient on-device inference with durable, instantly responsive hardware, they’re setting a new standard for what edge AI can achieve—especially in applications like autonomous systems, IoT sensors, and real-time analytics.

At a Glance

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, Xiphera specializes in hardware-only cryptographic solutions—designing secure and highly optimized IP cores for FPGAs and ASICs—free of software or hidden CPUs, delivering efficient and robust protection in mission-critical systems 

Key Features & Offerings

• Pure Digital Logic Implementation
  Xiphera’s cryptographic IP cores are fully in‑house designed, ensuring fast time-to-market, minimized attack surface, and straightforward validation by eliminating software layers 

• Wide-Ranging Cryptographic Portfolio
  Their offerings include standard and advanced cryptography: symmetric  schemes like AES-GCM/CTR/XTS and ChaCha20‑Poly1305, asymmetric schemes  like ECDH/ECDSA and RSA, hash functions (SHA‑2/HMAC, SHA‑3), true and pseudo-random number generation, and modern Post‑Quantum Cryptography such as xQlave® (Kyber,Dilithium) 

• Security Solutions for Critical Industries
      Xiphera’s IP supports:
  • Communication & data centers (high-performance encryption and protocols like       MACsec, IPsec, TLS 1.3)       
  • Space & satellite systems, including quantum-resistant Authenticated Boot and Hardware Root of Trust cores developed with ESA funding and in collaboration with Frontgrade Gaisler 
  • Industrial  automation and IoT, delivering compact, hardware-only IP with long-term       security and low power consumption 
  • Mission-critical infrastructure (e.g., government, energy, defense) with PQC-enabled       assurance against emerging quantum threats 

• Service Excellence
  Beyond products, Xiphera offers tailored design services, trainings, and      support in defining security goals and building secure hardware architectures for FPGAs or ASICs, especially when customers lack in-house cryptographic design expertise 

Innovation & Recognition

Xiphera continues to lead in the deep-tech security domain:

• Awarded the ECSO STARtup Award 2025 for excellence in cybersecurity innovation 
• Active in collaborative efforts like North Korea project “BLimPQC,” a €6.3M Finnish initiative enhancing national quantum-safe security, launched in April 2025 

In Summary

Xiphera delivers hardware-first cryptographic IP cores, optimized for performance, security, and long-term resilience—including quantum threats. Their broad portfolio, industry-grade solutions, and support services make them a standout provider for secure-by-design systems in communications, space, IoT, and critical national infrastructure.

At a Glance

Minima is a decentralized Layer 1 blockchain specifically engineered for ultra-lightweight environments—capable of running full blockchain nodes on mobile and IoT silicon chips.

What Makes It Unique

• Edge Consensus Architecture
  Every device on Minima's network participates in block production and validation, enabling fully decentralized trust mechanisms right at the edge.

• Runs on Tiny Devices
  Designed with minimal footprint in mind, Minima can operate directly on      constrained devices such as IoT sensors and embedded systems—eliminating      reliance on external infrastructure.

• Secure, Censorship-Resistant Infrastructure
      By running full nodes on end devices, Minima enables secure peer-to-peer      communication and transactions without centralized control, enhancing resilience and data integrity.

Breaking Ground with The Minima Chip

Minima is advancing toward embedding blockchain functionality directly into hardware via the “Minima Chip”—bringing decentralized ledger capabilities to the next generation of silicon devices.

Real-World Impact

Minima's lightweight, embedded blockchain platform is well-suited for decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN), autonomous agent systems, and secure IoT deployments where decentralization, resilience, trust, and minimal overhead are essential.

Summary: Minima is carving out its niche by making full blockchain functionality possible on resource-limited edge and IoT devices. With its edge-consensus model, hardware ambition, and lightweight performance, Minima is unlocking new possibilities for secure, decentralized networks beyond the cloud.

 At a Glance

Terra Quantum is a leading full‑stack quantum technology company headquartered in Switzerland and Germany. They specialize in providing practical, deployable quantum solutions across software, hardware, and security domains.

Core Offerings

• Quantum Software as a Service (Quantum SaaS)
  Through their TQ42 platform, Terra Quantum delivers enterprise-grade access to quantum algorithms for machine learning,optimization, and simulation. It includes both developer-friendly APIs and no‑code interfaces—making quantum tools accessible to a wide business audience.

• Quantum Computing as a Service (Quantum CaaS)
  Their service includes both simulated and hardware-based quantum processing units (QPUs), enabling clients to tap into quantum compute power today while scaling for future hardware advances.

• Quantum Security as a Service
  Terra Quantum offers post‑quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution (QKD) solutions for future-proof data protection. Their offerings include scalable, standards-compliant libraries and secure networking to protect sensitive information.Inside 

Innovative Algorithmic Toolbox

Terra Quantum’s algorithm suite spans three powerful domains:

• TQml Quantum‑enhanced Machine Learning
  Leverages hybrid quantum‑classical approaches to boost prediction accuracy, compress large-scale models, and uncover patterns in complex data.

• TQopt – Quantum‑infused Optimization
  Tackles tough combinatorial and logistics challenges with greater speed and precision, helping businesses reduce costs and improve efficiency.

• TetraBox – High‑Efficiency Simulation
  Uses tensor‑network methods to simulate complex physical, financial, and chemical systems more accurately and faster than traditional techniques. Results include dramatic speedups and data compression.

These tools collectively empower enterprises with quantum-powered insights across diverse industries—including automotive, financial services, energy, and life sciences.

Market Leadership & Recognition

• Recognized by Handelsblatt as the highest‑valued quantum technology company      in Europe, underlining its strategic impact and financial strength.

• Supported by over USD 100  million in funding, backed by prominent European investors.

• The team includes top-tier talent from academia and industry—like quantum      physicists, algorithm designers, and security experts—committed to translating scientific advances into enterprise-ready quantum solutions.PKI 

Summary

Terra Quantum stands out as a quantum technology pioneer that bridges the gap between lab-scale research and real-world business applications. With a comprehensive ecosystem of accessible quantum services—spanning AI, optimization, simulation, and security—they’re enabling enterprises to leverage quantum advantage today, while preparing for tomorrow's computing landscape.

At a Glance

A deep-tech startup is pioneering a new approach to embedded processing by merging memory and computation on a single chip. Its flagship technology, ComputeRAM™, enables ultra-efficient AI workloads on constrained devices—offering dramatic improvements in speed and energy efficiency.

Core Technology: ComputeRAM™ — In-Memory Processing for Embedded AI

By embedding computation directly into memory, this architecture eliminates the need for constant data shuttling between memory and processors. The result is significantly faster processing, reduced power consumption, and enhanced capabilities for AI at the edge.

Real-World Applications & Integration

ComputeRAM™ is designed for a wide range of embedded systems, including:

• Wearables  — bringing longer battery life and richer features to hearing aids, smart      watches, and voice assistants.
• Robotics & Autonomous Systems — enabling responsive decision-making and      smarter sensing for drones, home robots, and industrial automation.
• Programmable Smart Sensors — delivering flexible, upgradeable intelligence for      diverse IoT and industrial deployments.

Commercial Strategy

Instead of manufacturing chips, the company licenses its ComputeRAM™ architecture to chipmakers and device manufacturers. This licensing model allows existing devices to integrate more advanced AI features with minimal additional cost or redesign.

Growth Outlook

With its technology proven in early deployments, the company is expanding commercial partnerships across multiple industries and positioning itself as a key enabler for next-generation intelligent devices.