NextSilicon
NextSilicon is an Israel-based fabless semiconductor company that designs dataflow accelerators (Maverick-2) and RISC-V CPUs (Arbel) for HPC and AI infrastructure, selling to US government national laboratories and enterprise customers via OEM partners including Penguin Solutions, Dell, and Cornelis Networks.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersGiv'atayim, Israel
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What NextSilicon does
NextSilicon is an Israel-based fabless semiconductor company founded in 2017 that designs and sells dataflow accelerators and RISC-V CPUs targeting high-performance computing (HPC) and AI infrastructure markets. Its core technology is the Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA), a non-Von Neumann approach in which computation is driven by data availability rather than a fixed program counter, allowing the majority of silicon to be allocated to arithmetic logic units instead of control logic. The architecture supports runtime hardware reconfiguration based on real-time telemetry, and the programming model accepts unmodified C/C++, Python, Fortran, CUDA, and standard AI frameworks, eliminating the need for proprietary languages or code rewrites.
The company's primary product is the Maverick-2 dataflow accelerator, available as PCIe cards and OCP Accelerator Modules with up to 192GB of HBM3E memory and fabricated on TSMC 5nm. A second product, the Arbel 64-core RISC-V server-class CPU, targets data center, HPC, and AI workloads on a production roadmap for early 2026. Maverick-2 is in production as of Q4 2025, with the flagship Spectra supercomputer deployment of 128 accelerators achieving full system acceptance at Sandia National Laboratories in May 2026 under the US Department of Energy's Vanguard program for the National Nuclear Security Administration's Advanced Simulation and Computing initiative. Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories also participate in the program.
NextSilicon sells hardware directly to government and research institutions and reaches broader enterprise markets through OEM and integration partnerships with Penguin Solutions, Dell, Databank, and Cornelis Networks. The company is headquartered in Israel with offices across the United States, Serbia, Germany, Switzerland, India, and Australia, employing 350+ people globally. Cumulative funding exceeds $300 million from investors including Amiti, Aleph, Playground Global, Third Point Ventures, and StepStone.
NextSilicon firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NextSilicon
- Legal name
- Next Silicon Ltd.
- Website
- https://nextsilicon.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- NextSilicon is an Israel-based fabless semiconductor company that designs dataflow accelerators (Maverick-2) and RISC-V CPUs (Arbel) for HPC and AI infrastructure, selling to US government national laboratories and enterprise customers via OEM partners including Penguin Solutions, Dell, and Cornelis Networks.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NextSilicon industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Dataflow Accelerators / HPC Silicon
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI/Neural Processing Units (NPUs) & ML Accelerators (HDAHAJAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Graphics & Accelerator Cards (GPUs, compute accelerators) (HDACAGAA), AI Compiler, Runtime & Kernel Optimization Software (CUDA/ROCm/XLA, graph compilers) (HDAAAAAI)
Keywords
Where NextSilicon is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Giv'atayim
- HQ country
- Israel
- HQ region
- Middle East
Offices9 records
Markets served
NextSilicon business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Maverick-2 Hardware Sales: NextSilicon sells its Maverick-2 dataflow accelerators as PCIe cards and OCP Accelerator Modules (OAM) to enterprise and government customers. Available in production volumes as of Q4 2025. Customers include national laboratories, HPC research institutions, and AI infrastructure operators.
- Arbel RISC-V CPU Sales: Enterprise-grade 64-core and 128-core RISC-V server processors sold to data center, HPC, and AI infrastructure customers. Currently in production with customer and partner silicon evaluations underway.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
NextSilicon product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NextSilicon designs, manufactures, and sells the Maverick-2 dataflow accelerator and the Arbel RISC-V server CPU, both built on its proprietary Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA). Maverick-2 is sold as PCIe cards and OCP Accelerator Modules (OAM) to HPC and AI infrastructure customers, delivering runtime-reconfigurable hardware that adapts to software in real time. The products enable unmodified legacy code (CUDA, C/C++, Python, Fortran) to run without porting, targeting government national laboratories, research institutions, and AI infrastructure operators.
Product overview
NextSilicon's product portfolio centers on its Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA) platform, which powers two primary products: Maverick-2, a runtime-reconfigurable dataflow accelerator for HPC and AI workloads available in PCIe (single-die, 400W) and OAM (dual-die, 750W) form factors; and Arbel, a 64-core RISC-V server-class CPU designed as a companion processor to Maverick-2 for data center and HPC environments. Both products leverage ICA's adaptive software intelligence to dynamically optimize hardware configurations based on workload behavior.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Maverick-2: First production dataflow accelerator powered by NextSilicon's Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA), delivering up to 10x performance at less than half the power of leading GPUs for HPC and AI workloads.
- Arbel
- Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA)
- Spectra
Products and services
- Maverick-2 Maverick-2 is a runtime-reconfigurable dataflow accelerator powered by NextSilicon's Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA). It is sold as PCIe cards (single-die, 96GB HBM3E, 400W TDP) and OCP Accelerator Modules (OAM, dual-die, 192GB HBM3E, 750W TDP) to HPC and AI infrastructure customers. It features 54 billion transistors fabricated at TSMC 5nm and supports unmodified C/C++, Python, Fortran, CUDA, Kokkos, ROCm/HIP, OpenCL, TensorFlow, and OneAPI code without porting.
- Arbel Arbel is a 64-core server-class RISC-V processor (RVA23 Hypervisor) with a 10-wide instruction pipeline, 3.4 GHz target frequency, three 256-bit vector units, and 480-entry reorder buffer. Built on TSMC 5nm process, it is designed as a companion CPU to Maverick-2 for data center, HPC, and AI workloads. Designed to match or beat x86 incumbents on SPECint and SPECfp benchmarks per GHz.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 10x performance over leading GPUs at 60% less power in algorithmically complex workloads; 600 GFLOPS HPCG at 750W (matching GPUs at half power); 32.6 GUPS at 460W (22x faster than CPUs, ~6x faster than GPUs); PageRank 10x higher graph analytics performance than leading GPUs on 25GB+ graph sizes that GPUs cannot process
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use NextSilicon
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
NextSilicon technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature5 records
NextSilicon partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Cornelis NetworkscoreCornelis Networks and NextSilicon formed a partnership to jointly create AI and high-performance computing reference architectures combining Cornelis' CN5000 fabric with NextSilicon's Maverick-2 compute platform. The converged stack aims to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks (network congestion causing compute idle time and von Neumann architecture limitations) with validated system blueprints to be commercialized through OEM partners. Companies plan to extend testing to 800 Gbps CN6000 fabric in H2 2026 and explore disaggregated inference and agentic AI workloads.
- Sandia National LaboratoriesflagshipSandia National Laboratories, as part of a tri-lab consortium with Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories, partnered with NextSilicon under the Vanguard program to deploy the Spectra supercomputer — the first system to incorporate NextSilicon's Maverick-2 architecture. Full system acceptance was granted in May 2026, qualifying Maverick-2 for nuclear safety-related computational testing. The 64-node machine with 128 Maverick-2 dual-die accelerators runs workloads under NNSA's Advanced Simulation and Computing program for modeling nuclear reactions.
- Penguin SolutionscorePenguin Solutions served as the system integrator for building and deploying the Spectra supercomputer at Sandia National Laboratories with NextSilicon's Maverick-2 chips. The collaboration enabled the 64-node, 128-accelerator system deployment and represents Penguin's role in bringing NextSilicon's technology to government HPC environments.
- Lawrence Livermore National LaboratorycoreLawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is part of the tri-lab consortium with Sandia and Los Alamos, leading a partnership with NextSilicon to deliver the Advanced Architecture Prototype System (AAPS) under Sandia's Vanguard program. The tri-lab consortium evaluates emerging pre-tested technologies for their viability in supporting the NNSA's Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program.
- Los Alamos National LaboratorycoreLos Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is part of the tri-lab consortium with Sandia and Lawrence Livermore, leading a partnership with NextSilicon to deliver the Advanced Architecture Prototype System (AAPS) under Sandia's Vanguard program. The tri-lab consortium evaluates emerging pre-tested technologies for their viability in supporting the NNSA's ASC program.
- Dell TechnologiesminorDell Technologies is listed as part of NextSilicon's rapidly expanding partner ecosystem with native support for commercial HPC libraries. Dell provides HPC infrastructure distribution capabilities.
- DatabankminorDatabank is listed as part of NextSilicon's partner ecosystem providing HPC infrastructure distribution capabilities.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
NextSilicon competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SambaNova Systems: Dataflow AI accelerator (RDU, SN40L) targeting enterprise and government AI deployments with a reconfigurable dataflow architecture conceptually similar to NextSilicon's ICA — both attack the Von Neumann bottleneck and target national-lab/government HPC and AI workloads.
- Groq: AI inference accelerator (LPU) using a deterministic dataflow architecture; targets government (including US Air Force) and enterprise inference workloads with low-latency claims. Closely comparable in alternative-architecture positioning and GTM toward federal AI infrastructure buyers.
- Tenstorrent: AI accelerator company building RISC-V-based Wormhole/Blackhole chips for AI training and inference. Direct comparable on the RISC-V + AI silicon stack and overlaps with NextSilicon's combined Maverick-2 + Arbel proposition.
- Cerebras Systems: AI accelerator company selling wafer-scale CS-3 chips to government labs (including Argonne, LLNL) and enterprise AI customers. Closest direct competitor in the 'alternative architecture to GPU' positioning NextSilicon pursues, with similar national-lab GTM.
- SiFive: Leading commercial RISC-V CPU core IP and developer of high-performance RISC-V application processors. Direct comparable to Arbel on the RISC-V server CPU side, with overlapping customer interest from hyperscalers and AI infrastructure builders.
- Rivos: Stealth-stage RISC-V server CPU startup targeting data-center and HPC workloads with high-performance RISC-V cores. Closest head-to-head competitor to Arbel for RISC-V server CPU share and shares the same ecosystem tailwinds around RISC-V adoption.
- Graphcore: Bow-class IPU accelerator targeting HPC and AI workloads with a non-GPU architecture (originally backed by Sequoia, now folded into SoftBank). Comparable as a struggling dataflow/parallel-processing alternative whose trajectory illustrates the difficulty of scaling versus NVIDIA.
Broad incumbents
- AMD: Supplier of Instinct MI300X/MI325X/MI350 accelerators and EPYC CPUs for HPC and AI. Competes head-to-head with NextSilicon in FP64 and HPC accelerator slots at national labs and competes with Arbel in the server-CPU market.
- NVIDIA: Dominant supplier of GPUs (H100, Blackwell B200, forthcoming Rubin) for AI training/inference and HPC. Direct competitor to Maverick-2 in accelerator silicon and the benchmark against which NextSilicon's perf/W claims are measured; CUDA software ecosystem is the central competitive moat NextSilicon explicitly targets.
- Intel (Habana Labs): Intel's accelerator unit selling Gaudi 2/3 and the now-discontinued Ponte Vecchio GPUs for AI training/inference and HPC. Competes with NextSilicon in HPC and AI accelerator procurement at large enterprises and government buyers, while leveraging Intel's broader x86 server stack.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
NextSilicon social profiles
Digital presenceNextSilicon financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NextSilicon leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
NextSilicon funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors11 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NextSilicon M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NextSilicon
What does NextSilicon do?
NextSilicon designs, manufactures, and sells the Maverick-2 dataflow accelerator and the Arbel RISC-V server CPU, both built on its proprietary Intelligent Compute Architecture (ICA). Maverick-2 is sold as PCIe cards and OCP Accelerator Modules (OAM) to HPC and AI infrastructure customers, delivering runtime-reconfigurable hardware that adapts to software in real time. The products enable unmodified legacy code (CUDA, C/C++, Python, Fortran) to run without porting, targeting government national laboratories, research institutions, and AI infrastructure operators.
Is NextSilicon a public or private company?
NextSilicon is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was NextSilicon founded?
NextSilicon was founded in 2017. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is NextSilicon based?
NextSilicon is headquartered in Giv'atayim, Israel, in the Middle East region.
How does NextSilicon make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Maverick-2 Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are arbel RISC-V CPU Sales.
Who are NextSilicon's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SambaNova Systems, Groq, Tenstorrent, Cerebras Systems, SiFive, Rivos and Graphcore. Broad incumbents are AMD, NVIDIA and Intel (Habana Labs).
Does NextSilicon have an API?
No public API is recorded for NextSilicon.
What industry is NextSilicon in?
NextSilicon's product category is Dataflow Accelerators / HPC Silicon. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHAJAF, AI/Neural Processing Units (NPUs) & ML Accelerators, with a secondary code of HDACAGAA, Graphics & Accelerator Cards (GPUs, compute accelerators).