"A German start-up is looking for funding to produce a new high-performance microchip that it says would make bitcoin mining much less energy intensive, and thus cheaper." It is used to attract new investment. Whether the statement as it was stated needs to prove until the star-up will product this chip out.
Yes, claiming superior performance is one thing, proving it is another. One should be very skeptical in regard to such announcements of mining hardware manufacturers. The majority of products failed to match their initial performance specifications.
But I'd still give a German company a little bonus in credibility. Would be outstanding if they really achieve energy savings of that magnitude.
ya.ya.yo!