AI-native chip design: European challenge opens applications

Why now

Chip design is complex, expensive and takes years, while AI models are renewed in weeks. The chips driving current AI systems are designed for yesterday's models.

At the same time, open-source technology and AI tools are lowering the barrier to designing new architectures. Europe is now largely dependent on the United States and China for its chips. According to SPRIND and NADI, the still young market for AI-driven chip design in Europe is a structural bottleneck: it slows down production and, with it, European AI development.

What does the challenge ask?

The challenge has two pillars.

• Pillar 1, chip design: architectures for AI inference and AI training. Focus on processors for AI data centers, AI accelerators such as GPU and TPU, ASIC and heterogeneous systems.

• Pillar 2, AI-driven chip design: AI that independently takes over design tasks, from architecture exploration and RTL generation to verification.

The premise is CMOS. Photonic, neuromorphic, memristive and analog computing concepts are also allowed, as are in-memory computing, heterogeneous integration and 3D stacking. Organoid computing platforms and quantum computing chips are excluded.

Teams develop the software stack from day one and ensure compatibility through optimized hardware abstraction layers. Independent, open platforms are preferred; solutions that create dependence on a single supplier, such as CUDA, are discouraged.

How much money is there, and when

The program has a size of 40 million euros. SPRIND finances the largest part, NADI the rest.

• Phase 1, 8 months: seven teams, each up to 2.6 million euros

• Phase 2, 12 months: three teams, each up to 7.0 million euros

• Together up to 9.6 million euros per team over 20 months, excluding VAT

• After phase 2: follow-up funding in the tens of millions for the tape-out phase, details to follow later

The funding runs through Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP): fixed-price contracts based on the team's cost estimate. This is a European procurement instrument, not an equity stake.

Eligible are personnel costs, material costs and operational costs such as business start-up, patent strategy and building chain partnerships. In addition to money, teams receive technical and commercial guidance.

• September 23, 2026: registration open

• November 30, 2026, 11:00 CET: registration deadline

• December 14 and 15, 2026: pitches for the jury in Leipzig

• December 16, 2026: start of the challenge

Webinars

SPRIND and NADI organize two webinars about the challenge:

• October 9, 2026 | 16:00 to 17:30

• November 17, 2026 | 16:00 to 17:30

Who can apply?

Applications can be made as an individual company working on chip designs, or as a team or consortium of up to three companies with different core competencies, represented by a single point of contact. Pure research groups and individual knowledge institutions are not eligible.

The challenge focuses on commercial implementation and converting the IP developed into a viable business model. Teams must establish a company, preferably before the start. The headquarters will be in the European Union, the EFTA or the United Kingdom; individual team members and cooperation partners may be outside of these regions.

Germany and the Netherlands join forces

This is the first joint funding program of SPRIND and NADI, and thus the first program of NADI as a whole. NADI is the Dutch counterpart of SPRIND, an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, set up according to the model of SPRIND, the American ARPAs and the British ARIA.

With this, the Netherlands joins a growing European network of innovation agencies. Earlier this year, SPRIND already started a joint challenge with the Swedish Vinnova. The Draghi report of 2024 called the SPRIND model the most suitable model for public innovation funding in Europe.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten in the press release, translated from English: if Europe wants to participate in the technology of the future, we cannot afford to innovate country by country. NADI's first program, together with SPRIND, shows a different path: joining forces across borders and turning European excellence into technological leadership.

The division of roles is clear. The Netherlands brings in a semiconductor sector of 33.6 billion euros, with ASML as anchor and strong design expertise. Germany brings its deep-tech and manufacturing industries, with companies like Siemens and Bosch.

What this means for the Dutch ecosystem

Chip design is one of the focus areas of the Dutch semicon ecosystem, and the permitted technology routes align with this. Photonics and heterogeneous integration are explicitly allowed, two areas where the Netherlands has a strong position.

For startups, scale-ups and SMEs, the size is unusual: up to 9.6 million euros without equity dilution, and a duration long enough to go from architecture to a production-ready design.

Parties that do not have a design team themselves also have a role. The challenge involves technology and equipment suppliers, research and innovation centers and industrial pilot lines from the start. Industrial end users participate as co-designers, launching partners or validation partners, from data centers, automotive, logistics and digital infrastructure.

Role of ChipNL CC

ChipNL Competence Centre (ChipNL CC) is the Dutch Chips Competence Centre under the EU Chips Act and helps startups, SMEs and knowledge institutions with business development and funding.

ChipNL CC has no role in the assessment of this challenge. What we do: draw attention to the call among design teams in the Netherlands, think about the composition of a consortium of up to three partners, and show the way to the pilot lines and the design platform within the European network of Chips Competence Centres.

Are you considering an application and looking for a partner with a complementary competency? Contact us via Business development and funding, or view the pilot lines.

All terms and the application form are on the SPRIND challenge page. The NADI and SPRIND press release gives the background to the collaboration.