Exclusive: Nvidia Edge AI Chip Rival Starts Partner Program With US Focus

In an exclusive interview with CRN, Axelera AI CMO Alexis Crowell says channel partners are ‘hugely important’ to scaling its business, which is based around the Metis AI Processing Unit platform that is claimed to deliver ‘the world’s highest performance and power efficiency at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions.’

A startup challenging Nvidia in the edge AI chip market has launched a global partner program in the hope of building a major business in the U.S. and elsewhere by creating sales opportunities with systems integrators and value-added resellers.

Netherlands-based Axelera AI on Monday marked the launch of its Partner Accelerator Network with more than 15 partners of several types, including OEMs such as Lenovo, Dell Technologies and Advantech; electronics distributors like Astute Group, Rutronic and Silicon Applications Group Corp; and other companies such as Macnica ATD Europe and Arduino.

In an exclusive interview with CRN, Axelera AI CMO Alexis Crowell said channel partners are “hugely important” to the company’s ability to scale its business, which is based around its Metis AI Processing Unit platform that is claimed to deliver “the world’s highest performance and power efficiency at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions.”

“Just given the size and reach of my company, the only way we can fulfill the global demand is through these channel partners. I can’t do it otherwise,” said Crowell, a 19-year Intel veteran who became CMO of Axelera AI last year.

The program includes resources for training, co-marketing and technical support, with the goal of enabling a wide range of partners to move edge AI inference proofs of concept into full production across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing and retail.

These resources, according to Crowell, can ultimately help partners grow their revenue and profitability with Axelera AI.

“If we’re doing this better together and we’re amplifying the marketing, their return should be much better,” she said. “Because if we’re both investing, but now we get the network effects of my ecosystem and their ecosystem—not just where we overlap—that should be a better ROI for them, which should [make them] more profitable.”

With the training element, Crowell said Axelera AI not only addresses the technical side of its products but also how to sell AI solutions effectively to businesses.

“If you don’t solve a business problem, then it really doesn’t matter how good your AI is,” she said.

Co-marketing, on the other hand, will help Axelera AI and its partners raise awareness of the solutions they’re developing, according to the executive.

“Especially because the edge industry is so fragmented, you want to get end users to really understand who we are, then we have to do it together with the companies that they interact with,” Crowell said.

The Axelera Partner Accelerator Network brings together several partner types: ISVs, technology companies such as CPU and memory vendors, system manufacturers, systems integrators, advisories, value-added resellers and distributors.

However, Crowell said her focus is growing Axelera AI’s footprint with ISVs and systems integrators, namely those on a national or global level. She hopes to expand the partner program’s roster to around 50 by the end of the year.

Outside of Axelera AI’s home continent of Europe, the startup is making a major sales push in North America, namely the United States, as well as other regions, like Asia-Pacific Japan.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity here, but that’s untapped for us,” Crowell said.

As for what makes Axelera AI’s edge AI platform stand out from competitors, the CMO said it comes down to performance, with a single Metis processor able to perform 214 trillion operations per second (TOPS) in 8-bit integer math; programmability, with the chip’s four cores ability to operate independently; and the products performance-price ratio.

“Our goal is to be accessible and usable by everybody in the market, so we’re not targeting super premium pricing. Our goal is to stay where anybody can use it and you can deploy it at mass. So as soon as you start to look at frames per second per dollar, I beat everybody at those three things,” Crowell said.

One U.S.-based system manufacturer that sees big channel potential for Axelera AI’s products is Miami, Fla.-based mini PC maker Azulle, whose CEO said he thinks “they’re going to do very well” if they’re able to market the Metis platform properly.

“They just need to get the message out there everywhere,” said Azulle CEO Alex Rodriguez. “We’ve done some pilot programs with some customers, and it’s working really well.”