Dutch Chip Metrology Firm Nearfield Instruments Hits Unicorn Status with $380M Series D

Investor Syndicate

The round drew an unusually broad mix of global and institutional capital, signaling the strategic importance of advanced chip metrology:

• Fidelity Management & Research Company — new investor, led the round
• Temasek — Singapore sovereign fund, returning investor
• Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) — joined as a new investor
• Walden Catalyst Ventures — returning deep-tech VC
• Innovation Industries — returning European VC
• M&G Investments — asset manager, returning investor
• Invest-NL — Dutch national investment institution
• TNO Ventures — existing shareholder representing parent research institute TNO
• ING — returning investor

Company Technology: High-Throughput AFM for 3D Chip Inspection

Founded in 2016 as a spinout from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) by Hamed Sadeghian and Roland van Vliet, Nearfield Instruments develops advanced 3D metrology and inspection systems for the semiconductor industry . The company specializes in high-throughput Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) — a non-destructive technique that uses nanoscale probes to measure critical 3D chip structures at production-line speeds .

Key commercial systems include:

• QUADRA — in-line 3D metrology system for process control in high-volume manufacturing
• AUDIRA — advanced scanning probe metrology for subsurface inspection

Nearfield's AFM probes measure changes in atomic force fields without touching the chip surface, and can use sound waves to 'see' through multiple chip layers to detect hidden defects . This capability is becoming essential as chip features shrink to atomic scales and new architectures like Gate-All-Around (GAA) and hybrid-bonded 3D integration demand unprecedented measurement precision .

Largest Dutch Deeptech Round

Multiple sources confirm that Nearfield's Series D is the largest deeptech investment round in Dutch history, surpassing the company's own Series C which had previously held the record . The round comes roughly two years after Nearfield raised €135 million (~$148 million) in a Series C led by Walden Catalyst Management and Temasek in July 2024 .

Use of Funds

Per the company's official announcement, Nearfield will deploy the Series D capital across three strategic priorities :

• Innovation — accelerating development of next-generation metrology and inspection solutions for advanced chip production nodes
• Production capacity expansion — scaling manufacturing to meet surging demand from AI chip makers
• Collaborative R&D — deepening joint development partnerships with leading semiconductor manufacturers

Why This Matters for AI Chips

Nearfield's funding surge reflects a broader industry reality: as AI workloads drive chip complexity to new extremes, the ability to inspect and measure nanoscale features non-destructively at production throughput has become a bottleneck . Defects that once went undetected until electrical testing can now undermine yield on multi-billion-dollar wafer runs. With this capital, Nearfield aims to make its inspection tools a standard part of the fab line for the world's most advanced chips.