CEO Interview with Cyril Sagonero of Keysom

Cyril Sagonero is the CEO and co-founder of Keysom, a deeptech company focused on RISC-V custom processor. In 2019, he founded Keysom with Luca TESTA to address inefficiencies in off-the-shelf processors, developing tailored solutions for various industries. Under his leadership, the company secured €4 million in funding in September 2024 to advance its technology and expand internationally. Previously, he co-founded Koncepto, specializing in hardware and software development, and worked as a lecturer and pedagogical manager at ESTEI in Bordeaux, focusing on electronics and embedded systems.

Tell us about your company.
Keysom is a French startup funded in 2022, specializing in the architecture of processor cores based on the RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA).

Our mission is to empower companies by providing RISC-V IP with a no-code architectural exploration tool that automatically customize processors tailored to specific application requirements. This approach ensures optimal power, performance, and area (PPA) trade-offs, enabling industries to create processors without necessitating in-depth technical expertise.

With the support of organizations like Alpha-RLH, ADI, Unitec, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and BPIFrance, Keysom is committed to advancing processor design autonomy and efficiency within the semiconductor industry

What problems are you solving?
At Keysom, we address the growing demand for customized processor architectures in an era where performance efficiency, power consumption, and cost optimization are critical.

Traditional off-the-shelf processors often come with unnecessary features that increase area usage, power consumption, and cost—a significant issue for industries needing embedded systems and edge computing solutions. We solve this by offering application-specific RISC-V processor designs that precisely align with our clients’ performance and power requirements.

Our no-code architectural exploration platform enables semiconductor companies to automatically generate optimized processor cores without requiring deep hardware design expertise. This solution accelerates time-to-market, reduces engineering costs, and improves energy efficiency—key challenges in markets like IoT, AI, automation, and robotics.

By leveraging dynamic reconfigurability and custom instruction sets, we empower companies to create processors that are uniquely tailored to their applications, unlocking better performance-per-watt and cost-effectiveness than traditional solutions.

What application areas are your strongest?
Our strongest application areas are IoT, Edge AI, and critical industrial systems.

In IoT, our customizable RISC-V processors deliver ultra-low power consumption and optimized performance for smart sensors, connected devices, and autonomous systems.

For Edge AI, we provide tailored architectures that accelerate AI inference tasks directly at the cutting-edge, enabling real-time decision-making with minimal latency and energy efficiency.

In critical industrial systems, such as robotics, automation, and embedded control systems, our dynamic processor designs ensure high reliability, real-time performance, and long product lifecycles—essential requirements for mission-critical applications.

What keeps your customers up at night?
Our customers are primarily focused on achieving the right balance of performance, cost and optimization. They need processors that deliver high performance while also being energy-efficient and cost-effective. However, they also seek tools that are open, easy to use, and capable of supporting customization without the steep learning curve.

The RISC-V open-standard is crucial to them as it enables innovation and provides the flexibility to design processors tailored to their specific needs, without being locked into proprietary solutions.

At the same time, customers are increasingly looking for ways to reduce dependency on large EDA providers. By providing a no-code platform for designing RISC-V-based processors, we offer a path to greater autonomy and the ability to innovate without the heavy reliance on expensive, complex design tools. This gives them more control over their designs, improving both agility and cost-effectiveness

What does the competitive landscape look like and how do you differentiate?
The competitive landscape in the semiconductor and RISC-V industries is extremely challenging. We are a French company, and we compete on a global scale, facing some of the largest and most established players in our industry.

However, we have several unique advantages that help us differentiate ourselves. Firstly, we benefit from the strong support of European investments, which provide us with the resources to accelerate our growth and scale innovation.

Additionally, our technology and IP Core offer immediate value to our customers. By providing customizable RISC-V solutions that are directly aligned with application-specific needs, we enable faster time-to-market, better power performance, and cost efficiency—qualities that set us apart in a highly competitive environment.

What new features/technology are you working on?
We are constantly working on advancing our technology to meet the evolving needs of our customers. Currently, we are focusing on developing even more optimized 32-bit cores, which will offer better performance and efficiency for a wide range of applications.

Additionally, we are excited about our upcoming Edge AI accelerator, which is specifically designed to handle the growing demand for real-time AI inference at the edge. This product will enable our customers to deploy AI models directly in distributed environments, with low latency and low power consumption.

Lastly, a significant area of research for us is reconfigurable architectures. We’re exploring how to create architectures that can dynamically adapt to different workloads and requirements, offering greater flexibility and optimization for diverse applications. This innovation will allow us to provide more customizable and adaptive solutions to our customers in industries like IoT, AI, and industrial automation.

How do customers normally engage with your company?
Customers typically engage with us through multiple channels. We are actively building a network of sales and representatives across Europe, the USA, and Asia to better serve our global customer base.

We also meet our customers in person during major industry events, such as the Embedded World in 2025 in Germany.

In addition, we believe in sharing knowledge and insights with the broader community, so we actively publish and share our expertise to engage with professionals and experts in our field.

Finally, to provide hands-on experience with our solutions, we offer a free trial of our EDA Cloud Keysom Core Explorer. This gives potential customers the opportunity to explore our platform and see firsthand how it can benefit their projects. For immediate access, feel free to contact me directly, and I’ll be happy to assist.

Contact Keysom

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