♦ Fiora5 targets the IoT, networking, wearables, automotive and defense segments – where it wants to offer a customizable solution.
The Romanian deep tech start-up Fiora5, which aims to develop intellectual property (IP) for the development of processors (CPU), is seeking a pre-seed funding round of 500,000 euros. «The 500,000 euros will help us develop the first prototype, develop infrastructure and launch into the industry», said Darian Domocoş, CEO and co-founder of Fiora5 during a presentation session for start-ups, which took place within PROW 2025 Timisoara, a conference dedicated to the development of digital products. The start-up will develop processors based on the RISC-V architecture. This is an open architecture for processors, unlike x86 (Intel/AMD) and ARM (owned by Arm Holdings and used by Apple), which are proprietary. RISC-V is the equivalent of a «Linux of chips» – an architecture free and accessible to anyone, allowing any company to design a processor without license fees and without dependence on the US or China. The company aims to provide Europe with a «sovereign» processor solution, reducing dependence on traditional suppliers from the US or China, in a custom SoCs market estimated to exceed $43 billion by 2030. «We always hear about the chip race between the US and China, but never about Europe. This is the best time to develop a semiconductor solutions company from within Europe,» said Darian. Domocoş. «When you have a product – you have a phone, you have a car, maybe a laptop – when a company develops a new product, they create a chip for that type of device. But they take a part from one supplier, a part from another supplier and stick them together, and that's the chip they use.» The problem, he explains, is that this approach generates inefficiency and strategic risks. «This creates a dependency; companies depend on just a few vendors for processors (CPUs) or memory.» He added that the current process is cumbersome: «When they integrate these parts into their chips, it's very expensive. They have limited flexibility because they can't customize them for their own problems.» More details at https://www.zf.ro/zf-it-generation/ Fiora5 wants to change this paradigm, offering a European alternative based on the RISC-V open architecture. «That's why we created FIORA5, where we reduce friction by focusing on an ultra-low power, plug-and-play and highly customizable architecture for our CPU IP.» Although the startup also targets the American market, the strategic goal is European sovereignty. Asked why he wants to sell in the US if the goal is a European IP, Domocoş answered: «We sell in America so that Europe is not dependent on American IP. We can sell to America, but not to depend on IPs made in America.» According to the schedule presented, the prototype will be ready in the second quarter of 2026. «We will have a prototype, as I said, that will work on a board called FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). We will have performance indicators, benchmarks, with which we will go to the market, to possible customers.» Reaching the first paying customers is targeted for the first quarter of 2028. Fiora5 targets the mid-market, avoiding a direct confrontation with the giants that dominate the high-end market. «We focus on the middle market, because there are a lot of applications, from IoT (Internet of Things) to networking, to wearables and defense applications.» Asked why they don't directly attack the lucrative defense market, Darian Domocoş explained the company's gradual strategy: «The defense area is very difficult to enter at the beginning. We focus on wearables and IoT, because it is very easy to enter a consumer-based market. And then, with the money we get, with the connections, we will also focus on defense.» The company has already started market validation efforts, holding preliminary discussions with representatives of some major players, including Siemens, Meta and Bosch, said Domocoş. Asked to give an interview for the ZF IT Generation show, Fiora5 representatives declined the invitation for the moment, claiming that they prefer to focus on discussions with investors and internal development efforts at the moment.
Who is part of the Fiora5 team
The Fiora5 team consists of Darian Domocoş – co-founder & CEO, Ciprian Seiculescu – vice-president for software, Alan Shepherd – board member and the technical director and co-founder of the company for which only the first name, Alin, was published. Darian Domocoş previously worked at Nokia and Allengra GmbH. Ciprian Seiculescu's LinkedIn profile indicates a double specialization: he is a pilot (First Officer at Wizz Air), but he holds a Doctorate (PhD) in Computer Science from EPFL (Switzerland), specializing in network-on-chip (NoC) architectures and previous experience as a system engineer at Continental. Alan Shepherd has over 30 years of experience in IT leadership and multiple business exits. His recent focus is on integrating AI into businesses.