The Technology Commissioner of Europe, Henna Virkkunen said that the aim of this move is to raise Europe’s share of global chip production from about 10 to 20 per cent by 2030.
EU recently unveiled a €525 million ($581.67 million) fund to help chips and IC design startups. The fund will be split into $471 million for developing commercially viable chips and $ 85 million to build an European Chip Design platform.
Unveiling the fund, European Technology Commissioner, Henna Virkkunen said that the aim of this move is to raise Europe’s share of global chip production from about 10 to 20 per cent by 2030. Currently EU chip design firms hold less than 1 per cent of global revenue. The chip design platform eurocdp.eu, will provide companies with chip design tools, support services, intellectual property and also access to manufacturing capacity. These resources are crucial for early-stage companies.
Under the design platform grants for up to €100,000 will be available for early-stage startups for proof of concept prototyping, while developed startups can apply for €16 million grants to develop chips on a commercial scale. The money will flow through existing channels as the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec) will lead the EU chip design platform
