Astrape secures €7.9M to reinvent data centre traffic

Astrape Networks, a Eindhoven deep-tech startup optimising short-distance data network performance, today announced the successful completion of a €7.9 million seed round, which includes a €2.5 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The round was co-led by PhotonVentures, Join Capital, and Brabant Development Agency (BOM), with participation from Shift Invest. The funding reinforces Astrape’s mission to enhance data centre efficiency, which is essential for expanding AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and Europe’s digital sovereignty.

Founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Eindhoven University of Technology and incubated by HighTechXL, Astrape addresses critical performance bottlenecks by seamlessly introducing dynamic optical bypass capabilities into any data center network. Astrape’s technology enables networks to handle 50% more traffic while requiring fewer servers for the same computational load. It delivers 2x higher utilisation rates, expands hop capacity from 0 to 2, and scales to support over 16 million GPUs/xPUs per network—all while slashing energy consumption by 60%.

Solving one of the most urgent bottlenecks in the AI revolution

Astrape’s solution is strategically positioned to meet the rapidly growing data centre market, projected to reach $624 billion by 2029, driven by cloud computing, AI, and real-time data processing demands.

“The explosive growth of AI and HPC applications has pushed datacentres to their limits,” said Francesco Pessolano, CEO and co-founder of Astrape Networks. “Our network solutions optimise server-to-server communication and load balancing, dramatically improving data centre efficiency and sustainability.”

“Astrape is solving one of the most urgent bottlenecks in the AI revolution: the data traffic jams crippling modern data centres. Their solution not only boosts performance but also slashes energy consumption— significantly reducing the carbon footprint of AI infrastructure at scale,” said Ewit Roos, General Partner at PhotonVentures.

Market-leading technology

Astrape’s patented innovations underscore its commitment to market-leading technology, targeting both multi-tenant data centres and hyperscalers such as AWS and Azure.

“Astrape’s technology is a game changer for data centres. Their solution makes data centres more efficient in terms of energy usage, but also the utilisation of the current infrastructure. We see Astrape as a valuable addition to the strong photonic ecosystem of suppliers and application developers in the Netherlands,” said Ivana Sersic Vollenbroek, Senior Investment Manager at Brabant Development Agency (BOM).