EU Launches Chip Design Platform Aiming to Mobilise €525 Million for Start-Ups

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, launched the platform on November 4 as a key initiative under the EU Chips Act. It gives chip design companies access to design software, design support services, intellectual property blocks and manufacturing capacity, resources the Commission described as often the most expensive and hardest for early-stage companies to reach.

The platform addresses what the Commission sees as a structural weakness behind Europe's semiconductor ambitions. European chip design firms account for less than 1% of global revenue in the segment, according to the Commission, which argues that new chip factories in Europe will be sustainable only if there is matching demand, much of it from European designers. Without home-grown design companies, the fabs the bloc is subsidising risk depending on customers elsewhere.

"The European Design Platform gives our chips start-ups and SMEs the support they need to overcome the barriers," Virkkunen said, adding that it "shows how Europe is ready to act on its technological sovereignty goals."

How the Money Is Split

Of the €525 million, about €440 million is public money from the Commission and member states to be paid out as grants, according to heise, while €85 million goes to the platform's cloud infrastructure, support services and open-source chip design tools.

Companies apply for funding through the platform. Early-stage start-ups can receive grants of up to €100,000 for proof-of-concept prototypes. More developed start-ups can apply for grants of up to €16 million to cover the heavy costs of taking a chip towards commercialisation, a sum that reflects how expensive design tools, licensed IP and test manufacturing runs have become for advanced chips.

The platform is being built by a consortium of 12 European partners coordinated by the Belgian research centre imec, which was selected under the Chips Act in May 2025. Siemens has agreed a framework with the Chips Joint Undertaking, the EU body that runs much of the Chips Act's research funding, to offer its electronic design automation software through the platform.

The Chips Act, adopted in 2023, aims to raise Europe's share of global semiconductor production and help the bloc catch up with the US and China. In June, the Commission proposed a follow-up, Chips Act 2.0, as part of a wider technological sovereignty package intended to stimulate demand for chips and support advanced production in the EU.

The platform's grant portal is now open at eurocdp.eu, and the first awards will show how much of the €440 million in public money reaches start-ups designing AI and other advanced chips.