BRUSSELS, Belgium / EuroWire.IO / – The European Union has launched a European Chip Design Platform that will mobilise €525 million in investment to stimulate a new generation of European chip design companies. Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, launched the project on November 4. The platform is a key initiative under the EU Chips Act. It is available online at eurocdp.eu.
The platform will give chip design companies access to design tools, design support services and intellectual property blocks. It will also provide access to manufacturing capacity. According to the Commission, these resources are often the most expensive and the hardest to access for early-stage companies. A Commission factpage describes the platform as a one-stop shop for start-ups, which also offers training and cloud-based access to design software. The platform brings these services together in one place.
Start-ups and companies can apply for funding through the platform. Early-stage start-ups can receive grants of up to €100,000 to build proof-of-concept prototypes. More developed start-ups can apply for grants of up to €16 million to help them meet the substantial costs of taking a chip towards commercialisation. Of the total budget, €440 million is earmarked for grants, The Next Web reported. The grants are aimed at start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises.
€85 million for platform services
The remaining €85 million will fund the platform itself, according to The Next Web. The EU budget provides €285 million of the total, with participating countries contributing €240 million. Belgian research centre imec leads the group of partners running the platform, the report said. Work on the platform began in 2025, when imec started coordinating the consortium. Around 20 start-ups already take part in its programme to prepare companies for market.
Virkkunen said the platform gives European chip start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises the support they need to turn innovative ideas into silicon. She said it showed Europe was ready to act on its technological sovereignty goals by investing in its future. In remarks reported by Reuters, she said Europe could not strengthen its position in the global semiconductor industry without succeeding in chip design.
Europe holds under 1% of design revenue
European chip design companies currently account for less than 1% of global revenues in the segment, according to the Commission. Chip design is where most of the value in semiconductors is created, the Commission’s factpage says. The Commission also said new European manufacturing capacity would only be sustainable if there was enough demand for it from local designers. The platform aims to help close that gap by lowering entry costs for new firms.
The initiative builds on wider EU efforts to strengthen technological sovereignty, including a package covering cloud and AI presented in June. The EU has also activated a €5 billion fund to support strategic technology scale-ups. Global demand for advanced chips has grown rapidly, driven by investment in artificial intelligence. Germany and the Netherlands have separately launched a €40 million AI chip design challenge, The Next Web reported.