Europe is trying to promote the development of its local semiconductor industry.
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Black Semiconductor, a startup aiming to create next-generation chip technology, said on Wednesday it had raised 254.4 million euros ($274 million) in funding, mostly from the German government, in further sign of Europe’s increased push for critical components.
The German Ministry of Economic Affairs and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia invested 228.7 million euros in public funds. Porsche Ventures and venture capital firm Project A led the remaining equity tranche of €25.7 million.
Black Semiconductor said the funds will be used to establish a pilot production facility in Aachen, Germany, with the goal of achieving volume production in 2031.
The investment in the German semiconductor company, backed by public finances, underscores Europe’s ambitions to catch up with the United States, which has unleashed billions of dollars to boost its domestic chip manufacturing.
Europe is home to some important semiconductor companies, such as the Netherlands’ ASML, but has never had a strong position in manufacturing. Asian companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and South Korea’s Samsung dominate chip production.
“Germany understands, and the EU as a whole understands, that it is important to have a voice at the negotiating table. Sovereignty does not mean that you have to copy everything to Europe that does not make any sense, but that you can put something on the table. Black Semiconductor CEO Daniel Schall said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” program.
“What we can do in Germany and Europe is design,” Schall added, discussing Europe’s strength in the semiconductor supply chain.
Black Semiconductor is working on next-generation technology. Different chips often need to communicate with each other in equipment or data centers. Black Semiconductor is looking to use graphene to connect many wafers together to enable communications. The system will use light instead of electricity to transmit data, which the company says will increase the efficiency and speed of the wafers.
Graphene is considered a light and strong material that is also a good conductor of electricity.
“We are in a leading position,” Sauer said of the reasons why the German government decided to invest in the company.
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