EIC Accelerator — Deep Tech Cut-off
Horizon Europe · EICGrant + equity blended funding up to €17.5M for deep-tech SMEs, including semiconductor hardware companies in scale-up phase.
01 Oct 2026
GrantEquityScale-up
§ Ecosystem & Resources
The European fabless ecosystem.
Europe has more semiconductor infrastructure than most people realise. The challenge is knowing where it is, how to access it, and how to make it work for a fabless company. EFSA maps it, explains it, and opens the doors.
§ 01 — Map
Who's in the ecosystem.
Fabless companies
Startups, SMEs and scale-ups designing chips across all technology domains.
Chips Competence Centres
National centres providing technical expertise, design support, and experimentation infrastructure.
Pilot Lines
Advanced manufacturing facilities offering cutting-edge process nodes for prototyping and low-volume production.
EU Design Platform
Chips JU's shared cloud-based platform for chip design, simulation, and verification.
RTOs & Universities
Research organisations offering IP, collaborative R&D, and talent pipelines.
National Clusters
Territorial semiconductor ecosystems across 27 member states.
Investor Networks
VC funds, corporate venturing arms, and EU investment instruments active in the space.
Interactive EU map — coming Q3 2026.
§ 02 — Funding
Open and upcoming calls.
Chips JU — Pilot Lines Access Call
Chips Joint UndertakingAccess to advanced pilot lines across FD-SOI, More-than-Moore, and Wide Bandgap technologies for European fabless SMEs.
15 Jul 2026
AccessPilot LineSME
EIC Pathfinder — Open
Horizon Europe · EICEarly-stage research grant up to €3M for breakthrough technologies. Strong fit for novel chip architectures and pre-commercial photonics.
22 Oct 2026
GrantResearch
IPCEI ME/CT — Wave 3 Expression of Interest
European Commission · IPCEIImportant Project of Common European Interest covering microelectronics and communication technologies. National pre-selection process applies.
30 Sept 2026
PublicStrategicMember-only
§ 03 — Infrastructure
Infrastructure access.
I / 01
EDA Tools
Electronic Design Automation tools are the software backbone of chip design — and their licence costs can be prohibitive for early-stage companies. EFSA negotiates group licensing arrangements and maintains a guide to the subsidised EDA access programmes available through EU initiatives.
I / 02
Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) Programmes
MPW runs let multiple companies share a wafer, dramatically reducing the cost of getting silicon back for validation. EFSA publishes a calendar of upcoming MPW opportunities across European and trusted non-European foundries.
I / 03
Competence Centres
The Chips for Europe Initiative is funding a network of national Chips Competence Centres across EU member states. EFSA helps members understand which centre is relevant to their technology and how to engage.
I / 04
EU Design Platform
A cloud-based Design Platform that will allow startups and SMEs to design, simulate, and verify chips. EFSA advocates for SME-friendly access terms and helps members navigate onboarding.