AlixLabs, a semiconductor process startup based in Lund, has secured a €15M Series A with additional investment from Finland’s Stephen Industries, aiming for chipmaker beta testing in 2026 and manufacturing by 2027.
AlixLabs, a deep-tech semiconductor firm located in Lund, Sweden, has completed a €15 million Series A round with strategic investment from Stephen Industries, a Finnish firm.
The funding consisted of two parts: an initial €14.1 million announced in November 2025, followed by a final addition from Stephen Industries in Q1 2026, totaling €15 million.
The company is innovating Atomic Layer Etching technology through its APS™ (Atomic Pitch Splitting) platform, which offers more precise and cost-effective chip manufacturing.
The investment from Stephen Industries is strategically significant due to its chairman, Kustaa Poutiainen, whose prior experience at Picosun, a leader in Atomic Layer Deposition equipment, aligns with AlixLabs’ technology.
ALD and ALE are related technologies: ALD adds material one layer at a time, while ALE removes it with similar precision.
Poutiainen’s expertise in advancing atomic-layer processes is considered “especially valuable as we move from development toward broader commercialisation of our APS™ platform,” according to AlixLabs CEO Jonas Sundqvist.
AlixLabs’ technology addresses a costly issue in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
As chip architectures evolve, traditional methods like multi-patterning, which replicates lithography and etching cycles, become too expensive and energy-consuming.
EUV lithography can lessen the patterning steps but involves high costs and infrastructure needs.
APS™ provides an alternative by using atomic-precision etching to divide a coarser pattern into finer ones, minimizing multi-patterning and EUV tool dependence.
The November 2025 funding included three returning investors, Navigare Ventures, Industrifonden, and FORWARD.one, along with new investors STOAF, a Swedish fund, and Global Brain, a Japanese firm targeting semiconductor startups.
Global Brain’s involvement helps AlixLabs explore the Japanese semiconductor industry, where equipment buyers and foundry customers are prominent. Other investors include LU Holding, Almi Invest, Polynom Invest, and the Nylander family.
The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dutch precision equipment maker VDL ETG Projects for APS™ technology industrialisation.
AlixLabs obtained a patent allowance in Taiwan for a selective etching nanostructures patent in February 2026 and secured the EU trademark for “Power ALE.”
The Taiwan patent is crucial as major foundries like TSMC are there, making IP protection vital for commercialisation.
APS™ beta testing with major customers is set for 2026, with full manufacturing planned for 2027. The €15 million will enhance R&D, expand production in Lund and the Netherlands, strengthen foundry partnerships, and advance APS™ deployment.
This initiative aligns with European efforts to bolster locally-owned semiconductor technology amid concerns over reliance on Asian and US supply chains.