Key Takeaways

• Pere Llimós Muntal is the CEO and co-founder of Skycore Semiconductors, focusing on next-generation power integrated circuit solutions for high-efficiency applications.
• Skycore Semiconductors is developing advanced Power ICs for 800V HVDC architectures, addressing the limitations of current 54 VDC systems in AI data centers.
• The company has raised approximately €7.5M to scale its team and prepare for market entry of its first commercial products.
• Skycore’s technology enables a transition to 800V HVDC power architectures, addressing growing power demands and thermal challenges in AI compute infrastructure.
• The company’s engagement model is collaborative, working with hyperscalers and system vendors to customize Power IC solutions for next-generation data center requirements.

Pere Llimós Muntal is the CEO and co-founder of Skycore Semiconductors, driving the strategy, business development, and growth of the company as it delivers next-generation power integrated circuit (IC) solutions for applications with extreme power density, efficiency, and form factor demands, such as data center power delivery.

Pere received the combined B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2012, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in 2016, where he developed high-voltage and analog front-end ICs for portable ultrasound systems. He continued his research at DTU as a postdoctoral researcher and assistant professor, focusing on high-voltage integrated switched-capacitor power conversion.

His technical expertise includes switched-capacitor power conversion, high-voltage integrated circuit design, analog front-ends for ultrasonic transducers, and continuous-time sigma-delta A/D converters.

Today, he leads Skycore’s efforts to deliver advanced power IC solutions for next-generation data center HVDC architectures.

Tell us about your company?

Skycore Semiconductors is a Denmark-based fabless semiconductor company developing advanced Power Integrated Circuits (ICs) solutions for applications with extreme power density and efficiency demands, such as the 800V HVDC power architectures of the next generation AI data centers.

Our Power IC technology platform delivers extreme power density and efficiency in compact, flat form factors. This allows system designers to rethink how power is distributed in high-performance compute environments, especially as the industry moves from traditional 54 VDC systems to 800V HVDC architectures.

With roughly €7.5M raised to date, including our recent €5M seed round, we are scaling our team, deepening our partnerships, and preparing our first commercial products for market entry.

What problems are you solving?

AI data centers are hitting a physical limit when it comes to power. Today’s 54 VDC distribution cannot keep up with racks pushing beyond 200 kW. The current in the busbars, power density requirements, thermal constraints, and size limitations have become real bottlenecks.

Scaling today’s AI compute infrastructure requires a fundamental change in how data centers are powered, and 800V HVDC power architectures are the first step on that path.

Our technology enables the transition to 800V HVDC architectures, an industry shift that is now accelerating across hyperscalers and accelerated compute vendors. Our Power IC solutions unlock new architecture possibilities which are the key to scaling the compute and power density for the next generation of AI factories.

What application areas are your strongest?

Our strongest application area is AI compute infrastructure, more specifically the power delivery path inside high-density, high-efficiency data centers moving to HVDC architectures.

That said, the underlying technology platform provides benefits for any application with extreme power demands, such as high-performance computing, EVs and advanced robotics. But our immediate focus is clear: enabling the rapidly growing ecosystem of 800V AI data centers.

What keeps your customers up at night?

Their main question is how to continue to scale compute without running into the limits of physics.

They are facing exponentially growing power demands, insufficient rack-level power density, rising thermal challenges, and pressure to deliver more performance per watt, while maintaining reliability and compute scalability.

The shift to 800V HVDC is happening because customers know the current approach cannot scale. The question is not whether the transition is coming, but how fast can they get there, and with what technology. We provide them with the technology to cross that gap.

What does the competitive landscape look like and how do you differentiate?

The competitive landscape is a mix of traditional power semiconductor players and newer efforts focused on dense power conversion. But most existing solutions were never designed for the demands of HVDC power delivery in AI data centers. They are adaptations of legacy solutions.

We design our solutions from the ground up to be inherently scalable and meet the evolving demands of HVDC power architectures. We aim to provide the building blocks for the power architectures that AI infrastructure will rely on for the next decade.

Our differentiation is centered around three pillars:

1. Power IC technology platform Silicon-proven and tailored for applications with extreme power demands and fast development cycles.
2. Scalable power solutions Our power solutions are modular and scale in power, voltage and conversion ratio to meet the growing demands of power, efficiency, and trend towards higher-voltage architectures.
3. Architecture alignment with the development of next-generation AI data centers Alignment via industry partnerships, strategic providers, and development projects as members of the Open Compute Project (OCP) and Berkeley Power & Energy Center (BPEC), alongside prominent industry members like Nvidia, Google, Intel, Tesla, and Analog Devices.

How do customers normally engage with your company?

Our typical engagement model is collaborative. We work closely with hyperscalers, system vendors, and power architecture teams who are planning or already deploying the transition to HVDC.

This often begins with technical exploration and architecture definition, followed by co-development projects to tailor our Power IC solutions to their system-level requirements.

Because we operate at the intersection of semiconductor technology and data center system design, early engagement allows customers to shape the integration of our ICs into their next-generation racks and compute platforms. Our goal is to be a long-term partner and enabler, not just a component provider.

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