Microsoft backed Lace raises $40 million for next generation chipmaking technology

The company’s approach targets one of the hardest problems in advanced chip production. Today’s leading manufacturers rely on light based lithography systems to print microscopic circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. Lace says its helium atom beam system could create chip features up to 10 times smaller than what is currently possible, opening a path toward far denser and more powerful processors for artificial intelligence and other high performance computing uses.

At the center of the pitch is physics. Lace says its beam is about 0.1 nanometer wide, roughly the width of a single hydrogen atom. By contrast, the extreme ultraviolet light used in the most advanced commercial lithography tools has a wavelength of about 13.5 nanometers. The company argues that using helium atoms instead of photons could eventually allow wafer printing at near atomic resolution, extending the semiconductor roadmap at a time when further miniaturization is becoming more difficult and expensive.

Industry researchers see the concept as technically significant, even if commercial use remains years away. A conference program for a February 2026 lithography summit listed Lace’s invited paper on advances in metastable helium atom lithography, suggesting the company’s work is drawing attention inside the chip research community. Lace says it has already built prototype systems and aims to place a test tool in a pilot fabrication plant around 2029.

The funding comes as governments and investors are paying renewed attention to semiconductor equipment, an industry dominated by a small number of highly specialized firms. Lace is not yet presenting itself as an immediate challenger to incumbents, but its backers are betting that alternative lithography methods could become strategically important as demand for faster and more efficient AI chips keeps rising.