SOT-MRAM Pioneer Antaios Secures 11 Million Dollars in Funding

Investment comes from major French technology funds, together with Applied Ventures

September 17, 2020 -- GRENOBLE, France -- Antaios, a pioneer in SOT-MRAM technology (Spin-Orbit Torque Magnetic Random-Access Memory), announced today that it has secured 11 million dollars in funding to accelerate innovation and develop new strategic partnerships. With a unique set of attributes, SOT-MRAM has the potential to be deployed in almost every chip, becoming a candidate for the long-awaited universal (embedded) memory.

The investment comes from technology funds focused on identifying and fostering promising, fast-growth, early-stage technology companies. It is led by French venture capital firms Innovacom and Sofimac Innovation, together with Silicon Valley-based Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc. Additional financing also comes from Bpifrance (French public Investment Bank) and other bank partners.

“This funding is a key milestone for Antaios, asserting the value of our technology and the industry’s interest for SOT as the next-generation MRAM, which solves the limitations of its current implementations. We are proud to have attracted a blend of financial and corporate investors, bringing not only financial support, but also business outreach and savviness. We look forward to engaging with key ecosystem partners to bring the technology to the market,” said Jean-Pierre Nozières, CEO of Antaios.

Vincent Deltrieu, Partner at Innovacom: “We are excited to provide financial and business support to a key technology company in a very high-growth market. This represents a great example of the highly innovative start-ups and disruptive technologies Innovacom successfully supports.”

Nicolas Penet, Investment Manager at Sofimac Innovation: “Led by an experienced and knowledgeable team, Antaios is ideally positioned with a leading-edge solution in a booming market. Sofimac Innovation is delighted to support this high-potential start-up, spun off from public research and already part of a global ecosystem with an extremely ambitious roadmap and promising future.”

Michael Stewart , Investment Director at Applied Ventures: “Applied Ventures supports the continued development of logic-based embedded memory technologies like MRAM that offer low power, high performance and high endurance for Internet of Things and edge AI devices. We are excited to invest in Antaios and look forward to helping the company further develop its promising technology.”

By enabling simultaneously high operating speed and infinite read/write endurance, SOT has the potential to replace both embedded Non-Volatile Memory (e.g. NOR-Flash) and embedded cache (e.g. SRAM) in microcontrollers, microprocessors and System-on-Chip designs. SOT is widely recognized as the next generation MRAM, beyond Spin-Transfer Torque (STT) which is currently ramping up at all major semiconductor foundries. SOT can be easily implemented on STT-MRAM manufacturing lines, therein supporting a quick market deployment in applications as diverse as Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, computing and storage.

About Innovacom:

A pioneer in venture capital in France, Innovacom has invested nearly €1 billion since 1988, supported more than 300 highly innovative digital and technology startups and participated in more than 150 trade sales and 20 stock market listings in a wide array of sectors such as electric vehicles, media advertising technology, medical imaging, digital customer relationships, train connectivity and smartphone components. Innovacom and Turenne Group have recently partnered to create, with €1 billion under management, one of the leading independent private equity platforms in France.

About Sofimac Innovation:

Sofimac Innovation is an independent management company certified by the financial markets regulator (AMF) and dedicated to technological and innovative investment. We are present in Paris, Lyon, Rennes and Marseille, as close as possible to the major innovation centers in France. We support innovative start-ups in their growth projects with a wide range of investment vehicles. Working in a wide variety of technological sectors, particularly in the health and digital sectors, our team comprises experienced investor-entrepreneurs specialized in their field. Sofimac Innovation currently manages 9 funds comprising around 80 active companies. Sofimac Innovation is part, along with Sofimac Régions, of the Sofimac Investment Managers group, which has been investing in innovation and growth capital for nearly 40 years.

About Applied Ventures:

Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, invests in early-stage technology companies that promise to deliver high growth and exceptional returns. Its investments help develop technologies and markets that provide natural extensions to Applied Materials’ core business and stimulate the growth of applications for semiconductors, displays, and related products and services.

About Antaios:

Founded in 2017 and based in Grenoble (France), Antaios is a pioneer in Spin-Orbit Torque Magnetic Random-Access Memory (SOT-MRAM), a disruptive memory technology. Drawing upon a decade of research at SPINTEC, one of the worldwide leaders in MRAM academic research, Antaios is fully engaged in bringing the technology to the market to help chip manufacturers solve the critical issue of exploding power requests in advanced semiconductor systems.