Japan's Rapidus Secures ¥267.6B for 2nm Chips
Rapidus Corporation, a Japanese semiconductor firm, announced it has secured 267.6 billion yen in funding from the Japanese government and private companies. The investment will support the company's plan to mass-produce 2-nanometer logic semiconductors by 2027.
This latest funding round breaks down into ¥100 billion from the government's Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA) and ¥167.6 billion from 32 private sector companies. This brings the total capital and surplus for Rapidus to nearly ¥275 billion, including the initial ¥7.3 billion raised at its founding. The private investment comes from a consortium of Japanese industrial and financial giants. Key contributors include Canon, Fujitsu, NTT, SoftBank, Sony Group, and Toyota Motor Corporation. The government's investment grants it significant oversight, including a "golden share" to veto major decisions and the ability to take a majority stake if the company faces financial trouble. Established in August 2022, Rapidus is a cornerstone of Japan's strategy to reclaim a leading position in the global semiconductor market, a title it lost decades ago. The nation's current advanced production is around the 40nm level, making the leap to 2nm a massive undertaking aimed at closing a significant technology gap with industry leaders. The race to 2nm is fierce, with Taiwan's TSMC having already started volume production in late 2025. Rapidus is targeting the second half of 2027 for its own mass production start. To achieve this, the company is collaborating with IBM for its 2nm technology and has begun prototyping at its new facility in Chitose, Hokkaido. Rapidus's factory, known as IIM-1, has already achieved key milestones. The company successfully completed its first Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) exposure in April 2025, a critical step in advanced chipmaking, just three months after the equipment was delivered. The company plans an aggressive production ramp-up, aiming to go from an initial 6,000 wafers per month to 25,000 within the first year of operation. This rapid scaling is part of its strategy to compete with established foundries by offering faster turnaround times for custom silicon designs. However, significant hurdles remain, including a severe shortage of skilled semiconductor engineers in Japan. The success of this national project will depend on overcoming this talent gap and competing with massive subsidy programs in the U.S. and China. Looking ahead, Rapidus plans to release a Process Design Kit (PDK) to customers by the first quarter of 2026, allowing them to begin designing chips for the new process. CEO Atsuyoshi Koike has stated that Rapidus is already in discussions with over 60 potential customers in fields like AI and robotics.
