French semiconductor company VSORA has raised $46m in a new funding round to support the development and production of its AI inference chip, Jotunn8 (J8).

Led by Otium and a French family office, the round saw participation from Omnes Capital, Adélie Capital, and co-financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.

Investors highlighted VSORA’s potential to become a “global leader” in the AI chip sector, citing its purpose-built architecture designed to address limitations in traditional GPU-based solutions.

The funding will support the production phase of the J8 chip, which is scheduled for silicon in 2025.

VSORA founder and CEO Khaled Maalej said: “This funding marks a pivotal moment for VSORA as we accelerate our mission to revolutionise AI chips and ensure Europe’s technological sovereignty in AI computing.

“It will drive the finalisation of our technology and the launch of our production, enabling VSORA to play a crucial role as the sole alternative to non-European chip designers.”

VSORA said it has partnered with established semiconductor industry companies to ensure access to advanced technologies and manufacturing standards.

It is also working with strategic stakeholders as it prepares for the industrialisation stage, aiming to strengthen its position as a European force in AI chip development.

The J8 chip targets applications including generative AI, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and edge AI.

According to the company, the J8 chip offers more than 3,200 teraflops of computing power, exceeding the performance of current AI accelerators while using less than half the energy.

VSORA added that its solution delivers “more than three times the performance of existing solutions while consuming less than half the power”.

Otium principal Gaspard de Veyrac said: “Otium is proud to provide them with the means to realise their ambitions. With this funding, VSORA has the necessary tools to reshape the future of AI computation and secure a significant position in the global AI chip market.”