Lace Lithography, a Norwegian startup developing chipmaking equipment, announced a $40m Series A round on 23 March 2026. Atomico led the round, according to Reuters and The Next Web. Microsoft's venture arm M12, Linse Capital, Nysnø (a Norwegian state-backed climate investor) and the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation also took part.
Lace declined to comment on its valuation, Reuters reported. Another outlet, Bits & Chips, gave the amount as €40m rather than dollars; this article follows the dollar figure used by Reuters and The Next Web.
“Our technology is a way that can potentially expand the roadmap”Bodil Holst, CEO, Lace Lithography
The technology
Lace's equipment replaces light with a beam of helium atoms to etch patterns onto chips. The beam is about 0.1 nanometres wide, compared with the 13.5 nanometre wavelength used in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines made by ASML, the Dutch company that dominates light-based lithography. Lace says that could allow chip features up to ten times smaller than current EUV systems can produce.
John Petersen, scientific director of lithography at the research institute Imec, told Reuters the approach could shrink transistors and other features by an order of magnitude. Chief executive Bodil Holst said the technology could eventually allow wafers to be printed at atomic resolution, and that it can potentially expand the roadmap.
Where it stands
The company has built prototype systems and presented its findings in an invited research paper at a scientific lithography summit in February 2026. It aims to place a test tool in a pilot chip fabrication plant around 2029, according to Reuters and The Next Web.
Reuters noted growing investor and government interest in startups that aim to compete with ASML in lithography, the process used by chipmakers such as TSMC and Intel to make advanced chips.
The founders
The Next Web reported that Lace was founded in July 2023 and is headquartered in Bergen. Holst is a Danish-Norwegian physicist who joined the University of Bergen in 2007 and holds an affiliated professorship there, working in nanoscale imaging, molecular-beam lithography and 2D materials. Adria Salvador Palau, the chief technology officer, was her PhD student at Bergen and now works from Barcelona.
Earlier investors included the European Innovation Council and Innovasjon Norge, Norway's national innovation agency, in a pre-Series A round. Amounts were not given. Lace did not disclose its headcount.
Who invested
Atomico is a European venture firm. M12 is Microsoft's venture fund. Nysnø is a Norwegian state climate investment company. Linse Capital and the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation round out the group.
Bits & Chips said existing investors also took part, and that Lace coordinates an EU-funded project called Faboulace that aims to deliver a prototype for Imec to evaluate. It added that the company expects to commercialise within the next decade and is targeting annual revenue of more than €500m. Those are the company's own projections.
What the money is for
Bits & Chips said the funds will help Lace move from experimental setups to industrial-grade systems. The Next Web did not specify a use of funds.