We Highly Value the Strong Support of the Government and Renowned Investors to Jointly Advance the Development of Novel Technologies in Europe: Dr. Daniel Schall of Black Semiconductor Stated Following the EUR 254.4 million Funding Round

Black Semiconductor, a pioneer in next-generation chip technology, today announced one of the largest funding for a deep tech company manufacturing chips in Europe to date, strengthening Europe’s foothold in this strategically significant industry.

The company has secured EUR 228.7 million public funding from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia over the next 7 years under the IPCEI ME/CT2 program. Alongside the public funding, Black Semiconductor has secured an additional EUR 25.7 million in equity funding. The round was led by Porsche Ventures and Project A Ventures, with participation from leading venture capital firms, corporates, and industry leaders including Scania Growth Capital, Capnamic, Tech Vision Fonds, and NRW.BANK, joining the seed round investors Vsquared Ventures, Cambium Capital, and Hermann Hauser’s Onsight Ventures. With the funding, the company is on track to realize the first phase of its vision: advancing a new generation of chip technology from research to mass production by 2031.

Founded in 2020 by Dr. Daniel Schall and Sebastian Schall, Black Semiconductor is developing a new way to build networks of chips leveraging a novel material: graphene. These new chip networks will speed up data communication between chips for unparalleled performance, improved energy-efficiency, and a significant reduction in manufacturing costs through 60% fewer production steps required. Black Semiconductor has the ambition to enable mass production of graphene semiconductors in full compliance with existing industry standards – a pioneering achievement for the industry. The company’s technology and hardware facilitate optical chip-to-chip connections, allowing chips to interact almost as if they were one. By overcoming current limitations in silicon chip architecture, this new technology addresses existing barriers for transformative applications across industries, including efficient data centers, generative and embedded AI, and autonomous driving.

Dr. Daniel Schall, co-founder and CEO of Black Semiconductor, said: “We highly value the strong support of the government and renowned investors to jointly advance the development of novel technologies in Europe. The investment enables us to drive our product development and 300 mm wafer pilot production facility forward at full speed. As traditional chip technology moves closer to its technological and economic limits, our innovation paves the way for faster, more powerful, cost-efficient, and energy-efficient computation.”

He continues: “As part of the IPCEI program, we are committed to contributing to the semiconductor value chain in Europe. We believe that this investment, coupled with Europe's ambitious push to increase funding for deep tech companies, will inspire even greater participation from startups and industry players.”

Uwe Horstmann, co-founder, and General Partner of Project A emphasizes: "Europe needs to focus on achieving independence in key enabling technologies to ensure the continent's autonomy and economic stability amid geopolitical challenges and supply chain issues. Semiconductors have been a much-neglected industry. Black Semiconductor, with its great founding team, exceptional technological know-how and substantial funding, has the ability to bring back some of the much-needed technological sovereignty and become one of the key players in Europe.”

Patrick Huke, Partner and Head of Porsche Ventures: “Our lead investment in Black Semiconductor together with Project A represents a great opportunity, harnessing photonics technology seamlessly integrated into conventional chips for a variety of industries, use cases and future AI applications. Fueled by a combination of public and private investors, the Black Semiconductor team is now in a great position to build a strong semiconductor business within Europe, strengthening not only our domestic competitiveness but also the overall European chip ecosystem.”

With the fresh capital, Black Semiconductor will accelerate its R&D initiatives and establish pilot line manufacturing capabilities in Aachen, Germany, an important step towards fulfilling its long-term goal of producing and implementing high-quality graphene in Europe. The company plans to inaugurate a pilot manufacturing facility in Aachen by 2026, demonstrating the seamless integration of graphene into electronic chips. Additionally, Black Semiconductor aims to increase its headcount, planning to create 90 new high-tech positions, boosting its total workforce from 30 to 120 by 2026.

The Black Semiconductor PR team shared this piece with SME Business Review.