Nvidia backs Spain's iPronics in $125M round for data center switching chips
What's the deal? Valencia-based iPronics has raised $125 million in a Series B round to develop optical circuit switch chips that can connect hundreds of thousands of computing chips inside data centers. Maverick SiliconDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Light Street Capital co-led the round, with participation from Nvidia, Triatomic CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Bosch VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Catalight Capital, and the European Innovation Council FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? iPronics builds optical circuit switches (OCS), a chip type popularised by GoogleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for wiring up its AI supercomputers. The company aims to shrink OCS equipment about 20-fold to fit more switches in a server rack.
Why now? As data centers pack in hundreds of thousands of chips, hardware failures have become routine. "The failures are happening on a 'minute' time scale — it's not in the hours or months or weeks any more," said Daniel Pérez-López, founder and chief technical officer. The switches can quickly reroute around a chip that has burned out, letting the network "basically rewire itself."
By the numbers: Founded in 2019 as a spin-off from the Technical University of ValenciaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, iPronics has raised $177 million to date. It has been shipping switches for about a year and says it works with large AI infrastructure providers it declined to name.
The signal: Google's success with OCS has inspired a wave of startups trying to bring the technology to the wider market. At $125 million, this Series B ranks in the 97th percentile among Spanish semiconductor rounds at that stage — a sign of how far European chip startups can now stretch as demand for AI infrastructure grows.
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