The University of Twente-owned New Origin raises €6M from PhotonDelta to build photonic chips foundry

Enschede-based New Origin, a photonic chips foundry, announced on Wednesday that it has raised €6M in a fresh round of funding from PhotonDelta, a Dutch-based accelerator for the integrated photonics industry.

The funding is part of a contribution that the Province of Overijssel has made available to PhotonDelta for a national photonics programme.

The University of Twente Holding owns 100 per cent of New Origin. The university’s private initiatives are housed in this holding company, some of which support the commercialisation of scientific research.

Capital utilisation

New Origin mentions in a statement that the funding from PhotonDelta will be used to create the Netherlands’ first independent photonic chips foundry to produce silicon nitride chips. 

Companies will be able to manufacture their own photonic chips thanks to New Origin’s foundry. By significantly lowering costs and expanding the supply of photonic chips, this removes a major barrier for the photonics industry.

Eddy van Hijum, Deputy Economy, Finance and Europe Minister at the Province of Overijssel, says, “We can be proud of the strong cluster of companies and knowledge institutions in our province that continue to invest together in the future of European chip technology.”

“Examples include the earlier launch of the Chips Act and now this production facility. By continuing to develop, we as a province can mean a lot socially and economically with all these promising developments internationally, nationally and regionally.”

What are Photonic chips or PICs?

Photonic chips, also called photonic integrated circuits (PICs), integrate photonic functions into microchips to create smaller, faster and more energy-efficient devices. PICs can sense, process and transmit data much more effectively than their electronic counterparts.

Just like the traditional chips, the production process is carried out using automatic wafer-scale technology. This allows the chips to be mass-produced, reducing costs. 

They have several uses, including in data communications, self-driving cars, agriculture, medical technology, and aviation.

According to New Origin, the new foundry’s insights will pave the way for the large-scale production facilities that would be needed to fulfil future demand.

Professor Guus Rijnders, Scientific Director of MESA+, says, “Many companies want to experiment with or integrate photonics into their products, however, this can be very difficult due to the cost and complexity of producing chips. Our foundry will significantly lower the bar to entry, facilitating more innovation and helping the European photonics industry to grow.”

About PhotonDelta

In 2018, Dutch companies, knowledge institutions and governments signed an agreement and pooled a total of €236M in cash and in-kind resources to exploit the knowledge position in the field of integrated photonics. 

PhotonDelta partnered up to form a cohesive and cooperative industrial cluster. It is an ecosystem that researches, designs, develops, and manufactures solutions with integrated photonics technology. 

Connecting pioneers in the field with investors and viable markets, PhotonDelta aims to take the industry forward with funding, investments and R&D roadmaps.

The latest step in PhotonDelta’s mission to establish a ‘world-leading’ photonics industry in the Netherlands is its investment in New Origin, a company that was spun out from the University of Twente’s MESA+ NanoLab.

Ewit Roos, CEO of PhotonDelta, says, “New Origin’s foundry is going to play an important role in building Europe’s photonic chip industry. Not only will it help to meet the existing demand for chips, but it will also gather invaluable insights into how we can create large-scale production facilities.”

“This is a vital step in both making Europe less dependent on other regions for chip technology and unlocking the full potential of integrated photonics,” adds Roos.

By raising €1.1B in public and private funding in 2022, PhotonDelta was able to expand manufacturing, build 200 startups, invent new uses for photonic chips, and build out infrastructure and talent.

LioniX International, Scantinel Photonics, Smart Photonics, Quix Quantum, and EFFECT Photonics are just a few of the startups in which PhotonDelta has invested so far. Total investment into photonics businesses by PhotonDelta and a group of investors is €335M.