Dutch startup Fortaegis reinvents AI chip security
Amsterdam-based Fortaegis is reinventing chip security, pioneering an innovative cryptography approach.
Published on February 28, 2025
© Fortaegis
The Netherlands might soon have a new influential player in the semiconductor industry. Fortaegis, headquartered in Amsterdam, is quietly making waves with its innovative approach to security. The company is working to transform security by using the unique ‘fingerprints’ of individual semiconductors, potentially disrupting how data integrity is maintained even in an event of hacking.
Founded in 2022 by Boudewijn Wijnands, the company developed a specialized chip featuring a technology that utilizes the physical characteristics of individual chips as authentication mechanisms. This approach means every single chip carries its unique fingerprint, making it harder for hackers to compromise system integrity. The company’s Secure Processing Units (SPUs) come with an extra layer of resilience, if one chip is compromised, other chips in the system can continue functioning independently.
The importance of chip security
Fortaegis promises to deliver a valuable answer to this problem as cyberattacks soar and become increasingly sophisticated. Cybersecurity experts have been warning about the risk of hackers directly attacking chips. Chip security is attracting more interest as chips are the backbone of AI development.
Fortaegis’ CEO told Bloomberg that their approach could help develop microprocessors that make it more difficult to hack data centers that train AI models. And also autonomous vehicles, energy grids, secure communication lines, and edge devices like AI-enabled drones.
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A new player to enter the AI battlefield
The first two months of 2025 came with many happenings in the AI space. The Chinese AI model DeepSeek proved to be an impactful newcomer in the domain. Its lower costs appealed to many companies, although not without concerns. French Mistral AI assistant Le Chat’s launch also became a serious contender in a space dominated by American players such as Open AI and Anthropic.
Moreover, the $500 billion worth Stargate Project came in to retain America’s edge in AI, investing in infrastructure. As a response to that, during the Paris AI Action Summit, the EU announced a €200 billion investment to build AI gigafactories.
Fortaegis, backed by an initial $10 million seed round by Serendipity Capital, is now in talks to raise another $10 million from diverse investors. The company expects to start producing a security gateway and a hardware security model later this year, and the chip itself in 2027. This timeline positions the startup to potentially capture a significant share of the growing market for secure AI infrastructure, particularly as global tech giants are increasing their capital expenditure in AI development.
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