Fabrizio Del Maffeo has always loved building things and making an impact, but he never expected to be an entrepreneur, let alone lead one of the region’s fastest-growing high-tech startups.
Today, this high-energy native of Italy is the CEO and co-founder of Axelera AI, a company not yet four years old, accelerating artificial intelligence in edge devices with its powerful, energy-efficient chips.
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Axelera’s mission is to democratize AI technology at the edge (embedded in devices) making it both easy to use and affordable.
“We want to make an impact,” says Del Maffeo. “We want to put this technology in the hands of millions of developers so they can reinvent the world around us, from autonomous vehicles to medical devices to improving cropping yields in agriculture. There are so many applications.”
Beyond enabling these innovations, Axelera AI addresses a critical challenge: the unsustainable energy consumption of data centers. Today’s artificial intelligence is made possible by these power-hungry data centers, which are far away from the actual application. Del Maffeo is quick to point out that this will change … and soon.
Axelera’s high-performance, low-power chips shift AI processing to efficient, battery-powered edge devices. Not only does this reduce pollution and power consumption, but it also sets the stage for the next wave of innovation.
“We are just at the beginning of something big,” says Del Maffeo. “Robotics is going to change the world around us and these robots will need a brain. AI will move from the cloud to devices. As soon as this new wave unleashes, for Axelera, it will be a game-changing moment.”
Axelera’s journey began when Del Maffeo saw an opportunity.
“Customers wanted to give intelligence to devices and there was no solution. Although I had no experience in chip design, I started to think about my personal ambitions to build something that could last,” he said.
That was only a few years ago. Launched in 2021, Del Maffeo and Company have worked at lightning speed and has already succeeded, accomplishing feats other startups only dream of.
After its initial seed investment, Del Maffeo started on an aggressive path to hire people and deliver a product as soon as possible.
“In less than six months, we had the first chip design,” he said “In 18 months, we had the first prototype of the product design. In roughly 30 months, we had the full production ready.
“We have a product which is superior to any other solution on the market. It's not a pitch; it's for real.”
Along the way, Axelera raised more than 130 million through Series A and Series B rounds. In March 2025, Axelera AI announced it had secured an eye-popping €61.6 million grant to develop its Titania AI chiplet, bringing Axelera AI’s total funding to more than $200 million.
Today, more than 100 customers are testing its product, with this number growing by five to 10 each month.
Choosing High Tech Campus Eindhoven as Axelera’s base was a strategic decision.
“It was obvious to me to start this company at the High Tech Campus. This is the smartest square [kilometer] in Europe with hundreds of companies and thousands of talented engineers working here each day,” says Del Maffeo. “The benefits of being here are huge.”
Being at the High Tech Campus has provided invaluable opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Axelera executives are a short walk from executives at tech companies, such as NXP, when they need to discuss collaborations and industry trends. Del Maffeo believes this proximity is a crucial factor in Axelera’s success.
As Axelera has grown, its home on Campus has given it the flexibility it needs. Starting with one small office, it now occupies large office suites housing corporate functions and R&D.
Beyond its physical space, Axelera has found a tight-knit community, particularly within the AI Innovation Center.
“We found a community within the community of the High Tech Campus, which was the AI Innovation Center, where we are today,” Del Maffeo says. “We love the project. The idea is to put startups and innovators together with large corporations in a shared place. We were one of the first companies here.”
Del Maffeo is passionate about giving back to the ecosystem that has supported Axelera’s growth. He can often be seen giving a “Lunch and Learn” session or speaking at other Campus events, sharing his experience with other startups or aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Going forward, I hope to give back to the community even more. I want to see hundreds of Axelera-type companies,” he says. “It's important to speak out and to share my problems and for them to hear that they are not alone.”
Axelera has seen explosive growth in just a few years, but Del Maffeo and his team are always pushing forward, scaling the company and recruiting the best talent.
Axelera now employs 220 people and plans to announce a second product line later in 2025, with a third one by early- to mid-2026. That means expanding the team. Del Maffeo expects to reach 270 employees by end of 2025. (As of mid-February 2025, there were 25 open positions on the Axelera website.)
“We need more brains because the best is yet to come,” he says.
Del Maffeo believes its location on Campus helps attract prospective employees. With everything within a short walk, from restaurants to a supermarket to a gym and other activities, it has many benefits for Axelera’s employees.
“We are at least eight to ten hours per day in front of a computer – designing, thinking, working – and you need to get out,” he says. “When I recruit talent and I speak about our location on the High Tech Campus, they immediately get curious. The Campus has a very good reputation and almost everybody knows it.”
It’s unusual to speak of a company less than four years old as a “multinational,” but Axelera is just that, with offices in more than 10 countries. However, the High Tech Campus continues to be its headquarters and hub for AI innovation.
Del Maffeo says it best when he says, “The heart of the company is here.”
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