Kepler Computing, a startup based in Moraga, California, has secured a letter of intent for up to $245 million in funding under the US CHIPS Act. This grant is part of an $874 million allocation distributed among seven companies, with the government acquiring a minority equity stake in the startup.
The company develops ferroelectric RAM technology that stacks memory tiles directly onto logic chips using 3D heterogeneous integration. Research from April 2026 confirms this architecture is compatible with existing CMOS manufacturing processes, utilizing materials such as hafnium zirconium oxide.
Kepler claims its compute-in-memory design performs matrix multiplication 15–20 times faster than standard SRAM and DRAM while reducing power consumption. The solution is optimized for AI inference workloads, offering a potential alternative to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacks.
Founded in 2018, Kepler has raised over $660 million to date. A Series D funding round in mid-2025 brought in approximately $391 million, valuing the company at about $1.9 billion. Investors include AMD Ventures and Baillie Gifford.
