Norwegian Tech Firm Backed by Microsoft Secures $40M for Revolutionary Chip Tech

A Norway-based startup called Lace has secured $40 million in funding to develop groundbreaking semiconductor manufacturing technology. The company's innovative approach uses helium atom beams instead of light to create chip components 10 times smaller than current methods allow.

A Norwegian technology company with backing from Microsoft has secured $40 million in investment funding to advance revolutionary semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the firm announced Monday.

Lace, based in Bergen, Norway, is developing cutting-edge technology that could transform how computer chips are made and designed. The startup’s innovation centers on a new method for creating the intricate circuits that power today’s most advanced artificial intelligence processors.

Traditional semiconductor production relies on lithography processes that utilize light beams to etch complex circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. Major chip manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Intel depend on specialized lithography equipment from Netherlands-based ASML, which currently dominates this critical market segment.

However, Lace has pioneered a different methodology entirely. The company’s engineers have created a lithography system that employs helium atom beams rather than light-based technology. This breakthrough approach enables the creation of chip components that are ten times smaller than what existing methods can achieve, according to CEO Bodil Holst.

“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 explained during a recent interview.

The helium atom beam technology offers remarkable precision advantages. John Petersen, Scientific Director of Lithography at industry research hub Imec, describes the potential for creating transistors and other chip elements at an “almost unimaginable” scale reduction.

The technical specifications highlight this dramatic difference in precision. Lace’s helium beam measures approximately 0.1 nanometers wide – roughly equivalent to a single hydrogen atom. By comparison, ASML’s current light-based systems operate with beams measuring 13.5 nanometers, while a human hair spans about 100,000 nanometers in width.

This enhanced miniaturization capability would allow semiconductor manufacturers to dramatically boost the performance of AI processors beyond current limitations. Holst noted that their technology could enable chip production at “ultimately atomic resolution.”

The Series A funding round received leadership from Atomico, with additional capital provided by Microsoft’s investment division M12, along with Linse Capital, Spain’s Society for Technological Transformation, and Nysnø. The company chose not to disclose its current valuation.

Lace has already developed prototype systems and projects having a testing system operational in a pilot semiconductor fabrication facility by approximately 2029. The company shared its research findings through an invited paper presentation at a scientific lithography conference in February.

This funding comes as investors and government entities show renewed interest in semiconductor manufacturing technology, particularly as new startups emerge seeking to challenge established industry leaders like ASML.