Microsoft-backed Lace Lithography raises $40M to create chip designs 10 times smaller

Chip lithography start-up Lace raises $40m for tech development

The funds could enable significant advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing. Lace Lithography, a Microsoft-backed Norwegian chipmaking equipment start-up, has announced the raising of $40m to be used in the advancement of its unique semiconductor technologies. The Series A funding round was led by Atomico with additional investments from Microsoft's venture arm M12, Linse Capital, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation and Nysnø. Typically, to construct advanced chips, manufacturers use a process called lithography, which uses light to draw complex circuits that form the foundation of artificial intelligence chips. This leaves more room on components, enabling space for additional features within a limited area. Lace Lithography's engineers have developed a new system; rather than using light, their new form of lithography utilises a helium atom beam. The company's CEO Bodil Holst explained to Reuters that this approach will enable chip designs that are 10 times as small as what is currently possible. John Petersen, scientific director of lithography at Imec, explained that the advantage of a helium atom beam is in its potential to create features, such as transistors, that are smaller to an "almost unimaginable" degree. Holst added that Lace's advancements could allow chipmakers to print silicon wafers at what could be considered "ultimately atomic resolution". Founded in 2023 by Holst and Adrià Salvador Palau, Lace is headquartered in Bergen, Norway, with a second location in Barcelona, Spain. The platform has ⁠developed prototype systems and aims to have a test tool in a pilot chip fabrication plant by roughly 2029. Also this month, photonics expert Peter O'Brien received the 2025 Semi European Award, given in recognition of innovators who have had a significant impact on the global semiconductor landscape. O'Brien is the head of research for photonics packaging and systems integration at University College Cork's Tyndall National Institute. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Microsoft-Backed Lace Raises $40M for Helium Beam Lithography

Microsoft-backed chipmaking equipment startup Lace has secured $40 million in funding. This investment aims to advance technology that will significantly enhance semiconductor design and manufacturing. On March 23, 2026, the Norway-based AI startup announced its new goal of revitalizing the chip sector. Manufacturers like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company use a process called lithography to make advanced chips. This method uses light to create complex circuits. These circuits are the basic foundation for creating advanced artificial intelligence chips. This light-based lithography technology, used by most , was developed and designed by the Dutch company ASML. As of now, ASML is dominating the market as it races to implement chip components and incorporate more advanced features. The company aims to boost computing horsepower in a limited area of silicon. But now, Lace has developed a new approach. Instead of light, Lace's engineers have created a new form of lithography. This new method uses helium atom beams. With this new invention, will be able to create chip designs 10 times smaller than the current ones. During an interview, Bodil Holst, CEO of Lace, highlighted the new technology and its goal.

Microsoft-backed startup raises $40 million for advanced chipmaking equipment tech

SAN FRANCISCO, March 23 (Reuters) - Lace, a Norway-headquartered chipmaking equipment startup which is backed by Microsoft, has raised $40 million in funding to further develop a technology that could enable significant advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing, the company said on Monday. To make cutting-edge chips, manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Intel employ a process called lithography that uses light to draw complex circuits that form the foundation of advanced artificial intelligence chips. Manufacturers use light-based lithography systems made by the Dutch company ASML - which dominates the market - as they race to shrink chip components and squeeze in more features to boost the computing horsepower on a limited area of silicon. The field has drawn fresh interest from investors and governments as a new round of startups emerges, some of which aim to compete with the Dutch firm. Lace has developed a new approach. Instead of light, Lace's engineers have made a form of lithography that uses a helium atom beam. With that, the Norwegian company will be able to create chip designs that are 10 times as small as what is currently possible, CEO Bodil Holst told Reuters in an interview. "Our technology is a way that can potentially expand the roadmap and be an enabler for doing things that would not have been possible otherwise," Holst said. The main advantage of the helium atom beam is the industry could create features such as transistors, the building blocks of modern chips, an order of magnitude smaller to an "almost unimaginable" degree, according to John Petersen, Scientific Director of Lithography at Imec, a research and innovation hub for the chip industry. The beam Lace will use to make chips is about the width of a single hydrogen atom, or 0.1 nanometer. ASML's lithography tools use a beam of light that is about 13.5 nanometers; a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide. Smaller transistors and other features would give chipmakers the ability to ramp up the performance of advanced AI processors well beyond the current capabilities. Lace's technology would enable chip manufacturers to print wafers at what is "ultimately atomic resolution," Holst said. The Bergen-headquartered company's Series A funding round was led by Atomico with additional investments from Microsoft's venture arm M12, Linse Capital, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation and Nysnø. Lace, which declined to comment on its overall valuation, has developed prototype systems and aims to have a test tool in a pilot chip fabrication plant, or fab, around 2029. The company presented its findings in an invited research paper at a scientific lithography summit in February. (Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Nick Zieminski)