Microsoft-backed chipmaking equipment startup Lace has secured $40 million in funding. This investment aims to advance technology that will significantly enhance semiconductor design and manufacturing. On March 23, 2026, the Norway-based AI startup announced its new goal of revitalizing the chip sector.
Manufacturers like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company use a process called lithography to make advanced chips. This method uses light to create complex circuits. These circuits are the basic foundation for creating advanced artificial intelligence chips.
This light-based lithography technology, used by most semiconductor manufacturers, was developed and designed by the Dutch company ASML. As of now, ASML is dominating the market as it races to implement chip components and incorporate more advanced features. The company aims to boost computing horsepower in a limited area of silicon.
But now, Lace has developed a new approach. Instead of light, Lace’s engineers have created a new form of lithography. This new method uses helium atom beams. With this new invention, the Norwegian company will be able to create chip designs 10 times smaller than the current ones. During an interview, Bodil Holst, CEO of Lace, highlighted the new technology and its goal.
The field has attracted new interest from investors and governments as a new round of startups emerges. Some of the new AI startups aim to compete with the Dutch firm. Holst explains that “Our technology is a way that can potentially expand the roadmap and be an enabler for doing things that would not have been possible otherwise.”
The beam that Lace will use to make chips is about the width of a single hydrogen atom, or 0.1 nanometer. ASML’s lithography tools use a light beam with a wavelength of about 13.5 nanometers. This is equal to a human hair that is about 100,000 nanometers wide.
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