What CRIANN does

CRIANN (Centre Régional Informatique et d'Applications Numériques de Normandie) is a French public-interest computing infrastructure organization headquartered in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen. Founded in 1991 as an association under the name CRIHAN, it has operated as a Groupement d'Intérêt Public (GIP) since 26 September 2025, governed by a five-college structure covering higher education and research institutions, local authorities, health institutions, other public/private establishments, and the State. The organization provides high-performance computing (HPC), high-performance data analytics (HPDA), and regional research-network services to public research laboratories in Normandy and, via the EuroCC Competence Center, to enterprises.

Its core technical assets are the Austral supercomputer (2.5 PFlop/s theoretical peak; 124 AMD Genoa 9654 nodes delivering 23,808 CPU cores, 88 Nvidia A100 80GB GPUs, 16 Nvidia H200 140GB GPUs in the 2025 Arctic extension, 2 PB fast storage, and HPE Cray Slingshot 200 Gbit/s interconnect), the Boréale vector computer (NEC SX Aurora TSUBASA, 176.9 TFLOPS, 72 Vector Engines), and the SYVIK regional network (100 Gbit/s, >99.95% rolling availability) connecting Normandy's higher-education and research establishments to the national RENATER and European GÉANT networks. A specialized 15-person team delivers scientific support covering code optimization, parallel programming training (OpenMP, MPI, Python, Scalasca, SALOME, Code_Aster), and recurrent hackathons; CRIANN is a registered training organization (N° 23760134176). CRIANN is integrated into national (GENCI, MesoNET) and European (EuroHPC) HPC ecosystems, hosting Boréale as the national vector architecture node for MesoNET.

CRIANN is co-financed by Région Normandie, the French State, and the European Union (FEDER funds) under CPER frameworks; it does not raise private capital. Academic users access compute resources via bi-annual project allocation calls (November and June), with hours granted free of charge for validated projects and voluntary contribution to operating costs encouraged. Enterprises engage through the EuroCC Competence Center for free technical accompaniment (diagnosis, advice, proofs of concept on HPC, AI, and quantum computing). No publicly disclosed revenue or pricing structure exists; compute hours, training services, and network access flow through publicly funded programs rather than commercial contracts.

Name

CRIANN

Legal name

Centre Régional Informatique et d'Applications Numériques de Normandie

Website

https://criann.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CRIANN is a French public-interest group operating the Austral supercomputer (2.5 PFlop/s), the Boréale vector computer, and the SYVIK regional research network, providing HPC, HPDA, and training services to public research laboratories in Normandy and to enterprises via the EuroCC Competence Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-Étienne-du-rouvray

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Public Funding (Cofinancement Public): As a Groupement d'Intérêt Public (GIP), CRIANN operates on public co-financing from Région Normandie, the French State, and the European Union (FEDER funds). Technical premises and the Regional Data Center are financed by the Region, while HPC services and the SYVIK network are co-financed through CPER and EU funds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CRIANN operates the regional high-performance computing (HPC/HPDA) and network infrastructure for Normandy. It delivers production compute capacity through the Austral supercomputer (2.5 PFlop/s peak) and the Boréale NEC SX Aurora vector machine, exposes the SYVIK regional research and education network at 100 Gbit/s, and provides scientific support, training, and the EuroCC national HPC competence center to serve public researchers and enterprises.

Product overview

CRIANN (Centre Régional Informatique et d'Applications Numériques de Normandie) is a regional HPC mesocenter providing unified high-performance computing infrastructure and services. The core offerings include the Austral supercomputer (CPU+GPU hybrid cluster) and Boréale vector computer (NEC architecture), both accessible to public researchers and enterprises. These are complemented by the SYVIK regional network infrastructure connecting Normandy's academic institutions, the EuroCC HPC Competence Center for enterprise adoption support, and specialized training services. The product portfolio forms an integrated ecosystem: compute resources (Austral/Boréale), network backbone (SYVIK), business support (EuroCC), and user enablement (training).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Austral Supercomputer Main production supercomputer providing 2.5 PFlop/s peak theoretical power across 124 bi-processor AMD Genoa 9654 nodes (23,808 CPU cores), 88 Nvidia A100 80GB GPUs, 16 Nvidia H200 140GB GPUs (2025 Arctic extension), 2 PB of fast storage (1 PB NVMe), and HPE Cray Slingshot 200 Gbit/s networking; intended for academic researchers and enterprise users running large-scale simulation, AI/Deep Learning, and HPDA workloads.
• Boréale Vector Computer Specialized vector architecture supercomputer based on NEC SX Aurora TSUBASA technology, delivering 176.9 TFLOPS theoretical vector performance across 72 Vector Engines (9 compute nodes), each with 8 cores processing 256 double-precision elements, 1.53 TB/s memory bandwidth, and Infiniband HDR 200 Gbps interconnect; hosted within MesoNET to provide distributed computing resources for national research and industry needs.
• SYVIK Regional Network Regional network infrastructure interconnecting higher education and research establishments in Normandy at 100 Gbit/s, providing IPv4/IPv6, NormandIX regional GIX interconnection, multicast, virtual private networks, and quality-of-service classes; uplinks to the national RENATER and European Géant networks with greater than 99.95% rolling 12-month availability.
• EuroCC HPC Competence Center (CC-FR) French national HPC competence center part of the European EuroCC program, delivering free webinars, training, and customized accompaniment (diagnosis, advice, expertise, proofs of concept) to enterprises and public-sector organizations adopting HPC, AI, and quantum computing technologies.
• HPC Training Services Registered training organization (N° 23760134176) offering sessions on HPC usage, parallel programming (OpenMP, MPI), Python for scientific computing, Linux, code profiling (Scalasca), and scientific software (SALOME, Code_Aster), targeted at doctoral students, researchers, and engineers.
• Enterprise HPC Support Services Customized technical accompaniment for enterprises, providing diagnostic, consulting, expertise, and proofs of concept on CRIANN supercomputers, with documented outcomes such as a 20x acceleration for Advestis's algorithm and simulations for SMEs including RiskWeatherTech, Sinay, Braintale, Horae Technology, CEVAA / Groupe 6NAPSE, and Prolog Ingénierie.
• HPC Compute Time Allocation Allocated supercomputer compute hours for academic projects through bi-annual calls (November and June), with significant requests reviewed by external scientific experts and quotas distributed to validated researchers and laboratories free of charge.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20x faster algorithm computation time for Advestis after HPC optimization
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EuroCC (European HPC Competence Center)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023CRIANN participates in the EuroCC national HPC Competence Center (CC-FR) co-funded by EuroHPC and the French State. The center is coordinated by TERATEC and includes CERFACS, INRIA Academy, and URCA. It aims to facilitate HPC adoption in enterprises and public sector across France and Europe.
• MesoNET (21 French Mesocenters)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021MesoNET gathers 21 French mesocenters under GENCI coordination, selected in 2020 through the PIA3 'Structuring Equipment for Research' initiative. CRIANN hosts the national vector architecture machine (Boréale) within MesoNET, offering distributed computing resources open to national research and industry needs.
• GENCI (Grand Équipement National de Calcul Intensif)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGENCI coordinates the national strategy for intensive computing in France, coordinating regional centers, three national centers (CINES, IDRIS, TGCC), and European centers. CRIANN participates in GENCI-led coordination actions and MesoNET, preparing researchers for national GENCI and EuroHPC resources.
• TERATECcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTERATEC coordinates the French EuroCC HPC Competence Center. TERATEC is a major European HPC Campus and event organizer including the annual TERATEC Forum.
• RENATERcoreTechnology or IntegrationRENATER is the French national education and research network. SYVIK, CRIANN's regional network, connects to RENATER, enabling regional establishments to access national and international research network services.
• DataLab NormandieminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDataLab Normandie is a regional initiative bringing together local authorities, businesses, and higher education institutions for data and AI collaboration. CRIANN provides technical support including a data processing platform and interactive environment for data/AI work since 2019.
• SiMSEO (GENCI Platform)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSiMSEO was a GENCI/Teratec initiative (2015-2022) facilitating SME access to numerical simulation and HPC. CRIANN hosted one of six regional platforms. SiMSEO was integrated into the national HPC Competence Center in 2020.
• La French Tech Central Grand ParisminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCRIANN maintains a presence at La French Tech Central Grand Paris, meeting place for startups and HPC/AI support providers, facilitating enterprise outreach for HPC adoption.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CINES (Centre Informatique National de l'Enseignement Supérieur): French national HPC center operating Tier-1 systems (notably Adastra, an HPE Cray EX supercomputer) for public research. Most directly comparable to CRIANN in mission — providing shared HPC capacity to French researchers — but at significantly larger scale and budget.
• IDRIS (CNRS): CNRS-operated national HPC center serving public research, member of GENCI's national HPC infrastructure alongside CINES and TGCC. Directly comparable in offering shared compute, scientific support, and training to French academic users.
• TGCC (CEA): CEA's Très Grand Centre de Calcul, the third national HPC center in the GENCI ecosystem. Comparable as a French public-sector HPC provider serving national-scale research workloads, with similar scientific-support and user-allocation models.
• TERATEC: French HPC campus and ecosystem coordinator that runs the EuroCC CC-FR competence center and the annual TERATEC Forum. Directly comparable as a coordinating body for French HPC adoption among enterprises and researchers, overlapping strongly with CRIANN's EuroCC mission.

Broad incumbents

• GENCI: Grand Équipement National de Calcul Intensif — the national coordinator for French intensive computing. Comparable in coordinating regional and national HPC resources and acting as the French interface to EuroHPC, but operating at the national-policy level rather than as a compute provider.

Regional players

• CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre): Switzerland's national HPC center operating the Alps and Piz Daint/Eiger systems. Highly comparable in mission and operational model (public-sector HPC for research with user-allocation and scientific support) but serves Swiss national research rather than Normandy's regional ecosystem.
• CINECA: Italian non-profit consortium operating Tier-0 EuroHPC systems (Leonardo) and national HPC capacity. Comparable as a publicly-funded HPC consortium providing compute, storage, and training to academic and industrial users across Italy.
• HLRS (High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart): One of Germany's three national HPC centers, operated by the University of Stuttgart. Comparable mission (regional/national HPC service, scientific support, training) at a substantially larger scale, including the Hunter/Hazel Hen systems.
• Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC): German national HPC center at Forschungszentrum Jülich, hosting Tier-0 EuroHPC systems (Jupiter). Comparable as a publicly-funded HPC service center combining supercomputing, training, and scientific support for research and, increasingly, enterprise users.
• Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC): Spanish national supercomputing center hosting the MareNostrum 5 system and a Tier-0 EuroHPC machine. Comparable in mission — publicly-funded HPC provider serving national research with growing enterprise engagement — at a significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/criannormandie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crihan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CRIANN