The Rhea1 processor will equip JUPITER supercomputer and reinforce European technological sovereignty with key support from Taiwan and the EU.
The Franco-European company SiPearl, a pioneer in high-performance and energy-efficient processors for supercomputing and artificial intelligence, has successfully closed its Series A funding round totaling €130 million, the largest in its category in the history of Europe’s fabless sector. This announcement is accompanied by a new milestone: the tape-out of Rhea1, the most complex processor ever designed in Europe, which will be manufactured at TSMC (Taiwan) and will be available for testing in early 2026.
The final phase of funding, amounting to €32 million, includes participation from the French sovereign fund France 2030, the European Commission’s EIC Fund, and Cathay Venture, a prominent Taiwanese venture capital fund making its first investment in France. This alliance not only provides significant financial backing but also symbolizes a new strategic axis between Europe and Taiwan concerning semiconductors.
Rhea1: European architecture for the first exascale supercomputer
Equipped with 80 Arm Neoverse V1 cores and over 61 billion transistors, Rhea1 represents Europe’s effort to regain technological sovereignty. Its design supports both traditional HPC workloads and AI inference tasks, thanks to integrated HBM memory and compatibility with frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, C/C++, GO, and RUST.
This processor will form the core of JUPITER’s CPU cluster, Europe’s first exascale supercomputer—capable of performing over a trillion calculations per second (10^18 FLOPS)—operated by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre and funded by the EuroHPC JU initiative.
A strategic alliance with Taiwan and a new boost for European independence
“In the current geopolitical landscape, sovereign hardware is essential for guaranteeing Europe’s independence in AI, defense, and security,” stated Philippe Notton, founder and CEO of SiPearl. “With the tape-out of Rhea1, we demonstrate that Europe can compete with non-European leaders, and we strengthen our ties with Taiwan, the global centerpiece of the semiconductor ecosystem.”
The involvement of Cathay Venture, part of the financial giant Cathay Financial Holdings (with over $400 billion in assets), validates SiPearl’s strategic vision. According to Stanley Yu, vice president of the fund, “SiPearl represents a rare combination of innovative design, energy efficiency, and industrial vision. Its deep connection with the Taiwanese ecosystem will further enhance synergy between Europe and Asia.”
Sovereign funds, industrial vision, and community support
Institutional backing is another pillar of this success. Svetoslava Georgieva, chair of the EIC Fund, said, “We were among the first to bet on SiPearl, and today we celebrate a historic round that strengthens Europe’s position in AI and HPC.” Bruno Bonnell, Secretary General for Investments within France 2030, added that “projects like SiPearl are essential for our strategic autonomy.”
A European future for AI and data centers
Beyond JUPITER, Rhea1 will be a key component in projects such as OpenCUBE, HIGHER, Aero, Excellerat, and Plasma-PEPSC, advancing the development of sovereign European clouds and advanced scientific simulations in fields like materials, energy, quantum physics, and meteorology.
With 200 employees across France, Spain, and Italy, and collaborations with 30 entities within the European Processor Initiative (EPI) consortium, SiPearl embodies Europe’s ambition to develop cutting-edge technology independently, enabling competitive global positioning without compromising continental values and objectives.
Key achievements of SiPearl:
- Completion of €130 million Series A funding round
- Tape-out of Rhea1 processor with 80 cores and 61 billion transistors
- Manufacturing underway at TSMC (Taiwan)
- Collaboration with Cathay Venture and strengthening the EU-Taiwan axis
- Rhea1 will equip JUPITER, Europe’s first exascale supercomputer
- Planned expansion for Series B funding in upcoming weeks