TAIPEI, TAIWAN MAY 9, 2026 - Vellex Computing has been awarded a $30,000 prize, selected as one of the top 11 winners from 590 proposals across 56 countries in the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) IC Taiwan Grand Challenge. This prestigious award will help advance Vellex's Analog Hardware Accelerator for AI Model Training by connecting the company directly with Taiwan's world-leading semiconductor ecosystem.
At Vellex, our mission is to empower the next generation of AI by making model training dramatically faster and cheaper than the cloud using our patented, physics-based Analog Intelligence architecture.
To strengthen Taiwan's brand as the world's largest IC startup cluster and attract top global technology talent and venture capital, the National Science and Technology Council is hosting the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge, the NSTC stated in its official announcement. "This competition selects outstanding teams to establish a presence in Taiwan leveraging the world's most comprehensive semiconductor industry ecosystem to rapidly support creative implementation.”
Emerging from this highly selective global competition, Vellex is proud to join Taiwan's unmatched semiconductor ecosystem. Unlike conventional digital computing, our analog architecture achieves 17,000x faster AI training. By completing model training in milliseconds instead of hours, we help developers across energy, IoT, and aerospace deploy intelligent edge capabilities faster, with more certainty, and at a lower cost.
In the next phase of the program, Vellex Computing will participate in targeted industry matchmaking with leading Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers. Vellex will also officially receive its award and exhibit its analog compute technology at the 2026 ICTGC Awards Ceremony and the InnoVEX international startup expo, held concurrently with COMPUTEX Taipei from June 2 to 5, 2026.
About Vellex Computing
Founded in 2021 as a Stanford spin-off in San Francisco, Vellex Computing builds foundational hardware for the intelligent edge. Our Analog Intelligence platform slashes cost and power consumption, enabling milliwatt-scale, on-device AI training completely independent of the cloud.
About the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge
Initiated by Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge empowers breakthrough IC innovations by connecting global talent with Taiwan's world-leading semiconductor ecosystem. The program invites innovators worldwide to develop transformative solutions using advanced AI chips and technologies.
Link to view all winners at the InnoVEX pavilion: https://innovex.computex.biz/show/pavilion.aspx?TZ=2675
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