Netherlands-based semiconductor metrology startup Invisix has raised an oversubscribed €20 million seed funding round to accelerate the development of its soft x-ray measurement technology designed for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. The round attracted support from several strategic investors, including Hitachi Ventures, imec.xpand, Transition Ventures, Doosan Investment Co., and a tier-one semiconductor manufacturer.
The funding will be used to expand the company’s team, accelerate the development of its first commercial system, and support customer demonstrations at a newly established cleanroom facility in Eindhoven.
The investment comes at a time when semiconductor manufacturers are facing increasing challenges in measuring and inspecting advanced chip architectures. As artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and data-intensive applications continue to drive demand for smaller and more complex semiconductors, conventional measurement technologies are struggling to keep pace with shrinking transistor dimensions and increasingly three-dimensional device structures.
Founded by former ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) researchers Dr. Christina Porter and Dr. Sietse van der Post, Invisix is developing a soft x-ray metrology platform aimed at addressing one of the semiconductor industry’s growing bottlenecks: the ability to accurately inspect internal nanoscale structures without damaging the devices being measured.
Industry experts have long viewed metrology—the science of measurement—as a critical component of semiconductor manufacturing. Modern chip production involves building hundreds of layers of structures at nanometer scales, where even small defects can significantly impact performance, yield, and production costs. Before adding each new layer, manufacturers must verify that previous layers have been fabricated correctly.
However, as chip designs become increasingly complex, traditional optical inspection tools are reaching their physical limits. Many critical structures are now buried beneath multiple layers and cannot be adequately measured using existing optical methods. Manufacturers often rely on slower, more expensive, and sometimes destructive testing techniques to inspect these features.
Invisix believes its technology offers an alternative.
The company’s measurement platform utilizes High Harmonic Generation (HHG), a process that produces soft x-rays through the interaction of high-energy laser pulses with noble-gas atoms. The scientific principles underlying HHG were recognized through the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded in part for foundational work that enabled the generation of ultrashort pulses of light.
Unlike conventional single-wavelength laser systems, HHG generates soft x-rays across multiple wavelengths, allowing the capture of richer data about a device’s internal structure. Invisix combines this capability with proprietary reconstruction algorithms and machine learning techniques to generate detailed three-dimensional images of semiconductor features hidden beneath the surface.
According to the company, the technology has been designed not only for accuracy but also for the throughput requirements of high-volume semiconductor manufacturing, an area where many advanced inspection techniques have struggled to scale economically.
The startup’s approach builds on more than a decade of soft x-ray technology development conducted within ASML, one of the world’s leading semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Invisix has licensed a significant portfolio of related technologies and intellectual property developed through that work.
The company’s leadership team includes several former members of ASML’s soft x-ray development program. In addition to Porter and van der Post, the management team includes Chief Operating Officer Roald Dogge, who previously served as COO of Dutch semiconductor contract manufacturer NTS.
Invisix’s research roots also extend to a long-standing collaboration with Professor Anne L’Huillier of Lund University, whose pioneering work on high harmonic generation contributed to the Nobel Prize-winning research in the field.
The company has already demonstrated early validation of its technology through industry collaborations. In 2023, Invisix publicly disclosed measurement results generated in partnership with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and imec. The project focused on measuring critical features within gate-all-around transistor architectures, one of the semiconductor industry’s most advanced and difficult-to-inspect device structures.
More recently, Invisix relocated its 300mm-wafer-capable soft x-ray test platform to a new cleanroom facility in Eindhoven. The site will serve as a demonstration center for prospective customers while supporting continued product development ahead of commercial deployment.
Commenting on the funding announcement, Christina Porter, co-founder and CEO of Invisix, said the increasing complexity of semiconductor devices is creating demand for a new generation of measurement technologies.
She noted that chip manufacturers require tools capable of inspecting highly complex three-dimensional structures without damaging them and highlighted the company’s decade-long technology development history as a significant advantage in bringing the solution to market.
Investors cited both the technology’s maturity and the growing market need as key factors behind their participation in the funding round.
Wolfgang Seibold, Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Hitachi Ventures, said semiconductor metrology is becoming a limiting factor for production yields and manufacturing ramp-up as chip architectures become increasingly three-dimensional. He added that Invisix combines a technology platform built on years of development with a system architecture designed for high-volume manufacturing.
Clara Ricard, Partner at Transition Ventures, described Invisix as one of Europe’s most promising semiconductor startups, noting that the company is addressing a critical manufacturing challenge for advanced chips used in AI training and inference workloads.
