AlixLabs, a deep-tech company in Lund, Sweden, that develops next-generation chip manufacturing technologies, announced a €14.1m Series A funding round aimed at moving its groundbreaking process closer to commercial deployment. This is a real boost for Sweden’s semiconductor ambitions.
The investment made in a funding round led by Navigare Ventures, Industrifonden and FORWARD.one, and supported by STOAF of Sweden and Global Brain from Japan, is a turning point for AlixLabs as it looks forward to customer trials of its Atomic Layer Etching Pitch Splitting (APS) platform in 2026 and aims at the start of production in 2027.
On top of that, the global semiconductor industry has to deal with increasing capital intensity, stricter energy efficiency requirements, and the need to cut carbon emissions along the supply chain. To AlixLabs, its APS platform is a game-changing solution that could put the industry back on the green track by using an etch-based to achieve ultra-fine chip geometries without the need for energy-intensive multi-patterning or full EUV lithography.
The firm claims that APS employs atomic-level etching to split pitches on the wafer, thus lessening the complexity of the process, reducing energy consumption, and cutting the environmental impact per wafer. Such a move could attract the likes of Intel and TSMC intent on looking for the next generation of multi-billion euro fabs and extreme lithography systems.
Chief Investment Officer at Navigare Ventures, Alex Basu, remarked that AlixLabs is one of those few companies that really solve the semiconductor roadmap problems that are the bottleneck. “Since the outset, we have been totally convinced by AlixLabs’ dream. Their hardware resolves a very critical issueg in the growth of semiconductor technology and enables cost-efficient chip manufacturing at the advanced stage. What excites us the most is to see the real customers testing and validating our ideas – after that, it is all about getting fab-level integration,” Basu noted.
Another lead investor, Industrifonden, stressed the strategic importance of the innovation coming from Sweden’s Deep Tech sector. Senior Investment Director Tobias Elmquist said, “AlixLabs represents the perfect illustration of Deep Tech breakthrough at Sweden that can go on to change the entire worldwide semiconductor industry by enabling advanced chip fabrication cheaper and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, they contribute to green goals of the industry.”
AlixLabs intends to deploy the fresh funds to quicken the development and scale-up of the APS method. It plans to invigorate R&D and manufacturing both at its Lund main office and at the plant in the Netherlands, broaden partnerships with global foundries, and gear up for early industrial-stage rollout.
CEO Jonas Sundqvist stated that the Series A is a major milestone in AlixLabs’ evolution from research and validation to industry commitment. “With this Series A, we move our APS breakthrough from customer validation to industrial uptake. The next, thrilling chapter for us is the transition to beta testing with top customers – a crucial step towards full-scale production in 2027,” Sundqvist stated.
He also mentioned that APS, as a technology, will be able to provide major cost and environmental benefits especially in a scenario where chip manufacturers have to meet strict energy requirements at advanced nodes. “Applying our technology can result in a substantial reduction of energy consumption and costs per wafer, therefore advanced semiconductor production will be accessible to a broader range of industries,” he remarked.
AlixLabs have received support from FORWARD.one in multiple rounds and the company is said to be entering “the most exciting chapter yet.” Arjan Göbel, a partner, mentioned that the team is upbeat about the platform’s move towards real-world use and that it sees APS as a potential key technology that enables the production of the next generation of chips.
With the new money, AlixLabs is also able to extend its global reach for tech collaborations and customer engagement. The semiconductor supply chain is undergoing a geopolitics-driven shakeout, and, as a result, European governments and industry players have been placing ever more emphasis on the necessity of indigenous chip technologies. Alixlabs’ advancement is in sync with that wider push to establish a more robust and environmentally friendly semiconductor manufacturing base.
The company is now at a point where it must carry out the next crucial step of next year, showcasing the APS technology in client settings. If everything goes as planned, AlixLabs will be in a position to restate the way producers accomplish future chip scaling-milestones, thus offering a low-cost, low-carbon alternative to the traditional lithography-centric path.
