4th Batch of IC Taiwan Grand Challenge Winners Announcement
第四梯次 ICTGC 獲獎團隊
ICTGC Batch 4 Winners
IC Taiwan Grand Challenge 由國科會主辦，聚焦 IC 設計與晶片應用，涵蓋 AI Core Technologies & Chips、Smart Mobility、Smart Manufacturing、Smart Medtech 與Sustainability 五大領域。今年自全球 38 國、209 件提案中，精選出11件最具潛力的技術，11 家國際新創團隊橫跨美國、日本、德國、法國、英國、以色列及臺灣，展現跨國創新能量。
Organized by Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), IC Taiwan Grand Challenge focuses on IC design and chip applications across five key domains: AI Core Technologies & Chips, Smart Mobility, Smart Manufacturing, Smart Medtech, and Sustainability.
This year, from 209 proposals submitted across 38 countries, 11 of the most promising technologies were selected. The 11 winning international startups come from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Taiwan, showcasing the power of cross-border innovation.
Winners include:
Oculi(United States)/TopoLogic Inc.(Japan)/Leafy Lab Inc. (United States)/ThermoVerse Inc.(United States)/Infiniflux Ltd(United Kingdom)/Aniah.ai(France)/ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.(Taiwan)/Caesarea Labs (Israel)/Linque(Germany)/STR8 Industries(United States)/Vellex Computing(United States)
Oculi
United States/AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: OCULI Sensor and Processing Unit (SPU) powered by InteliPixel®
Oculi redefines AI vision at the edge by fundamentally re-architecting how visual data is captured and processed. Powered by IntelliPixel®, each pixel becomes a smart, programmable sensing and processing unit (SPU) that extracts only the information AI actually needs. By eliminating redundant data at the source, Oculi delivers ultra-low latency, ultra-low power, and ultra-low bandwidth operation—unlocking always-on visual intelligence with built-in privacy and lower system cost. The result is visually smarter devices, machines, and environments that scale across industries.
Official Website: https://www.oculi.ai
TopoLogic Inc.
Japan/AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: TL-RAM
TopoLogic develops high-capacity cache memory replacement technology, allowing 5-10x cache memory capacity increase compared to conventional technologies. This allows for a significant increase in parallel computing capabilities for the processor, as the bottleneck of a lack of quickly accessible memory is an ever increasing issue with high performance processors.
We also develop a heat sensing technology which allows millisecond order detection, 100x faster than conventional thermal sensors. This is useful in things such as early detection of thermal runaway in Li-Ion batteries, measurement of thermal output from processors, and calculation of thermal efficiency in mechanical components.
Official Website: https://www.topologic.jp/en
Leafy Lab Inc.
United States/
AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: Predictive Device AI, Agentic Layout Platform
Leafy Lab pioneers agentic design optimization for the semiconductor value chain, building tools to enable autopilot for chips. By targeting software, verification, and IP markets projected to exceed $197B by 2030, Leafy Lab expands this landscape through its proprietary Intelligence Agents. Leafy Lab uses integrated chip designer intuition and automated simulation pipelines to transform current trial-and-error approaches. Leafy’s platform achieves a global optimum in power, performance, and area (e.g., a 3.6 times improvement in performance), increasing first-silicon success and delivering at least 50% faster time-to-market.
Official Website: leafylab.io
ThermoVerse Inc.
United States/Sustainability
Product Name: LATCHES: Programmable Thermal Battery & Smart Building Muscle
ThermoVerse is tackling the escalating energy costs of commercial buildings in AI data center host communities by transforming the un-monetized negative space of drop ceilings into the world’s largest virtual power plant. Our patented technology, LATCHES™ (Large-Area Transactive Cooling & Heat Energy Storage), is the world’s most compact, behind-the-meter thermal storage solution. By integrating directly with existing Building Management Systems (BMS), LATCHES reduces commercial HVAC energy loads by 20% to 60% while unlocking a 1 MWh Tesla Megapack’s worth of electrical headroom within commercial buildings. Backed by $1.3M in non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and numerous economic development agencies across Michigan, New York, Tennessee and Georgia, ThermoVerse is currently raising a $3M Pre-seed round to scale operations, execute pilot projects, and transition our hardware manufacturing to a custom 0.18 µm BCD mixed-signal ASIC in Taiwan.
Official Website: https://www.thermoverse.com/
Infiniflux Ltd.
United Kingdom/
AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: ChipCool
Infiniflux is a UK-based deeptech startup redefining data centre efficiency and enabling Cooling-Native™ compute architectures. ChipCool™, our patent-pending 2-phase Direct-to-Die liquid cooling system, delivers industry-leading performance, keeping GPUs 20-25ºC cooler, thus enabling higher sustained frequency and larger AI workloads as well as at least doubling the GPU lifespan compared with the best 1-phase cooling systems. Importantly, our cooling system requires far less energy to remove 1kW of heat load than any other cooling system on the market. This translates into ca. 30% lower energy costs and lower maintenance costs for data centre operators.
With our breakthrough technology, we aim to tackle the cooling issues of AI today, 3D chips tomorrow and Quantum computing in the future.
Official Website: http://www.infiniflux.cool/
Aniah
France/AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: Aniah OneCheck / Amigo AI
ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Taiwan/AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: Core-Align Ultra: AMD+FPGA-Accelerated Adaptive Vision Engine
Caesarea Labs
Israel/Smart Manufacturing
Product Name: Aqueduct
Circuit Edit is the fastest path to fixing silicon, yet today it remains one of the most manual, slow, and capacity-limited steps in chip development. Caesarea Labs automates Circuit Edit, transforming it from a high-risk, human-dependent process into a predictable, machine-speed capability that dramatically shortens debug cycles, improves success rates, and increases lab throughput. With Caesarea Labs, Circuit Edit becomes a scalable, strategic asset rather than a bottleneck.
Linque
Germany/AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: Linque RISE
STR8 Industries
United States/Smart Mobility
Product Name: C-100
STR8 Industries is a U.S.–Taiwan venture-backed maritime autonomy company building autonomous navigation software and integrated onboard systems. Seed funding was led by a recognized pioneer in unmanned systems, and STR8’s engineering and rapid in-water testing are anchored in Taiwan to accelerate iteration and scale deployments.
Vellex Computing, Inc.
United States/AI Core Technologies & Chips
Product Name: Programmable Analog
Vellex Computing (San Francisco, CA) is a Stanford-spinout analog semiconductor company developing ultra-low-power chips for AI training. Powered by a decade of research and backed by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, Vellex’s technology delivers AI training at a fraction of the energy cost of GPU-based solutions. The company holds multiple patents and has active pilots across energy, data center, and edge AI applications. Vellex is raising a $3M pre-seed round to accelerate commercialization and expand market reach.
Official Website: https://www.vellex.ai/