Ambiq Wins Embedded World 2026 Award with heliaAOT™ | PORTFOLIO

Heart Capital portfolio company Ambiq Micro ("Ambiq®"), a technology leader in edge AI ultra-low-power semiconductor solutions, recently announced that **its pre-compiler built specifically for Ambiq's ultra-low-power SoCs, heliaAOT™, has won the **Embedded World 2026 Best in Tools award. heliaAOT was also shortlisted for the Best in AI award. This marks Ambiq's third consecutive win of the prestigious Embedded World award. In July 2025, Ambiq Micro successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AMBQ. As a leader in ultra-low-power semiconductors, its IPO signals accelerating momentum in the edge AI chip sector.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Ambiq is dedicated to making intelligence ubiquitous, helping customers deploy AI computing in endpoint scenarios where power challenges are most severe. Its core technology innovation — the patented SPOT® subthreshold power optimization technology — achieves multiple-fold energy efficiency improvements compared to traditional semiconductor designs. To date, Ambiq has powered more than 290 million devices.

"We are deeply honored to receive this recognition from Embedded World 2026," said Dr. Adam Page, Ambiq's Head of AI. "heliaAOT is a strategic investment in the future of edge AI — addressing the demands of agentic, always-on intelligence while solving extreme resource constraints. It works in concert with the SPOT platform to deliver powerful hardware and software gains through order-of-magnitude energy efficiency advantages and seamless deployment."

As AI workloads accelerate their migration from cloud to edge devices, developers face increasingly severe constraints on power, memory, and compute. Launched in July 2025, heliaAOT breaks through efficiency barriers on battery-powered devices by compiling TensorFlow Lite models directly into highly optimized embedded C code, eliminating runtime overhead.

Key advantages include:

• 10x reduction in memory footprint compared to traditional runtime deployment
• Fine-grained control over weight distribution across Apollo SoC memory hierarchies
• Deterministic, automated memory planning that prevents over-allocation
• Generated C code that embeds directly into applications, simplifying deployment
• Seamless compatibility with Zephyr RTOS and Ambiq neuralSPOT® AI SDK

Founded in 2022, Heart Capital is an early-stage Chinese venture capital fund focused on technology and digital transformation. The Heart Capital team is led by Yan Han, founding partner of Lightspeed, alongside core investors, a CFO, and seasoned investors from industry backgrounds. Notable past investments include Series A rounds in Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV, 09868.HK) and Full Truck Alliance (NYSE: YMM), Pre-Series A in MetaX (688802.SH), as well as RoboSense (02498.HK), FinVolution (NYSE: FINV), LandSpace, MinoSpace, Huitian, Xi Wang, ROX Motor, Sunmi, World Logistics, Baichuan, Manbang Cold Chain, Fan Deng Reading, Lanhu, and Starfield. Rooted in China with a global outlook, Heart Capital seeks true value in non-consensus opportunities. The firm respects the value of "people" and champions the potential of the "heart," looking forward to accompanying more young Chinese entrepreneurs in strengthening China and expanding into the world.