Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Backs Nagare Labs' $5M Seed Round to Break AI 'Memory Wall' with Z2RAM
Nagare Labs, backed by Pat Gelsinger, raised a $5M seed round for its Z2RAM technology, which claims to combine SRAM speed and DRAM density, though it remains in the lab prototype stage.
According to TechNews, former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is backing a startup called Nagare Labs, which is developing a new memory technology named Z2RAM aimed at breaking through the semiconductor industry's long-standing "memory wall." The company has completed its first funding round, raising $5 million.
Founded by Georgia Institute of Technology professors Suman Datta and Shimeng Yu, Nagare Labs states that Z2RAM aims to combine the advantages of existing mainstream memory types: "speed close to SRAM, density close to DRAM, and scalability similar to Flash." Unlike traditional DRAM cells that use a transistor and capacitor structure, Z2RAM cells utilize two transistors. The gate capacitance of the second transistor stores charge, theoretically preventing charge depletion during reads and improving latency.
Pat Gelsinger noted that AI workloads are inherently memory-bound, and there is unprecedented interest in breakthrough technologies that can simultaneously address bandwidth and capacity issues. Nagare Labs claims that the bit density of its first-generation Z2RAM could be more than five times that of SRAM; for example, where a 64MB SRAM block fits, Z2RAM could hold approximately 320MB in the same space, with comparable bandwidth.
However, the technology is currently only a "lab prototype." Datta stated that the company's goal is to provide working memory chip samples within four years and begin mass production shipments within ten years. Additionally, Shimeng Yu pointed out that there are currently no standards for integrating such new memory into accelerators, and leveraging high capacity and speed requires 3D hybrid bonding, for which standardization has not yet been established.