The UK has left the European Union, but semiconductor development is becoming one of the areas it hopes to partner on to achieve better economies of scale and much-needed funding.
Today, the government announced that it would join the EU”Chip Joint Undertaking” as a “participating state” so that UK organizations can tap into a pool of €1.3 billion (around $1.4 billion) for semiconductor research and development. The UK itself said that, as part of this, it would provide a more modest £35 million ($44 million) to fund the UK's efforts over the coming years.
Initially £5 million will be provided to support organizations (researchers or companies operating in the UK) apply to access the funds, the government said Wednesday. The additional £30 million will arrive between 2025 and 2027 to fund further research.
Chips are an essential (and therefore highly valuable) component for the development of the future of technology, whether for advances in ai that require massive computing power, or for the development of new or next-generation consumer electronics. Of automobiles.
But in a sign of how fragmented (or, more charitably, competitive) the semiconductor development space is at the moment, the government estimated that there are “tens of thousands of UK companies” eligible for grants, worth up to £450,000. average.
The deadline to apply, if you're reading this and interested, is May 14.
The UK's move underscores how the country, post-Brexit, had to confront the fact that in technology it cannot afford to move forward on its own. The news follows agreements the UK has signed with countries such as Korea (to share data), Canada (for science and innovation), and the tech-and-data-partnership” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>US (a broad technology and data agreement).
In Europe, budgets are big, but also a bit complicated. The Chips Joint Undertaking, for example, has an overall budget of around €11 billion from public and private contributions. It is itself a product of European Chip Lawapproved in 2023 to help the region, in the long term, reduce its dependence on semiconductor imports, particularly in light of geopolitical tensions and how they could affect the supply chain.
Meanwhile, the company's R&D segment is described as part of Europe horizon, which is a broader R&D program in multiple sectors with a budget of 95.5 billion euros. The UK joined Horizon Europe separately last year and companies already receiving grants include Nova Innovation, which has raised £17 million to develop tidal energy in Orkney, and 'The Floow', a startup which raised £17 million. 3 million for road safety technology.
UK technology Minister Saqib Bhatti, who announced the country's new partnership at a semiconductor conference in London on Wednesday, said in an interview with TechCrunch that while the obvious benefit for UK organizations is access to EU funding, their contribution will be short. -cutting-edge research.
In fact, in the current race for more powerful but more efficient chips to handle heavier computing workloads for artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, R&D is expected to become an even more valuable factor.
“We bring a wide variety of talents and a wealth of experience,” he said. “I am currently meeting companies in the semiconductor industry and the conversation is mainly around investing in the UK and taking advantage of our ecosystems, getting involved in the R&D sector. We really can't underestimate the strength of the R&D aspect. “We come to the table as equal partners.”
The UK has been a major player in cutting-edge chip research, but as with other categories of tech hardware, more broadly the market has been dominated by a small number of companies and that has taken its toll on this ecosystem. in particular.
Cambridge-based Arm, a major player in chip reference design, recently saw a successful IPO as a public company after a proposed sale to global chip giant Nvidia collapsed over antitrust concerns (Nvidia, however, ha quietly built up a stake in the company despite).
Graphcore, a promising Bristol startup that has positioned itself as a major competitor in the market, is ai-champion-graphcore-explores-foreign-sale/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>reportedly now seeking a buyer for a fraction of its multimillion-dollar valuation.
However, there remain other smaller and more interesting future players. In December 2023, Pragmatic Semiconductor, another Cambridge-based chip company, raised 231 million dollars with a valuation of 500 million dollars. The UK government was among the lead investors in that round.
“We are very pleased to welcome the UK to the Chips Joint Venture as a participating state,” Jari Kinaret, CEO of Chips JU, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with UK partners to develop the European industrial ecosystem in microelectronics and its applications, contributing to the continent's scientific excellence and innovation leadership in semiconductor technologies and related fields.”
