ASML Spin-Out Invisix Raises €20M to Solve Chipmaking’s Biggest Blind Spot

How the Technology Works

At the heart of Invisix’s platform is a soft x-ray light source based on High Harmonic Generation (HHG), a technique that traces directly to the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for attosecond science . That short-wavelength, broadband illumination is paired with proprietary reconstruction algorithms and machine learning to produce high-throughput, non-destructive 3D images of internal device structures .

The practical payoff is significant. Where optical tools hit a resolution wall, Invisix’s system aims to measure critical dimensions, overlay, and sidewall profiles inside the most challenging layers of advanced logic and memory chips—without damaging the wafer .

Why the Incubation Story Matters

What sets Invisix apart from most seed-stage hardware startups is the decade of work that preceded its founding. The core technology was incubated inside ASML from 2015 onward. When Invisix spun out, it licensed a substantial technology package directly from ASML, covering years of research results, system architecture, and intellectual property .

CEO Christina Porter framed the advantage bluntly: “Semiconductor manufacturers can’t build what they can’t see. … We are entering the market with technology that has been incubated inside ASML for more than a decade” . That lineage means Invisix is attempting to commercialize technology that has already been proven in one of the world’s most demanding R&D environments—an unusual level of technical derisking for a company at the seed stage .

Partnerships and Commercial Roadmap

Invisix is not developing its platform in isolation. The company has established validation and joint development collaborations with Intel and imec, two organizations at the center of next-generation semiconductor process development .

The fresh capital will be directed toward three near-term goals: growing the team, accelerating the first shippable commercial system, and supporting customer demonstrations from a new cleanroom facility in Eindhoven . The company has indicated its first tools are targeted at high-volume manufacturing environments where yield issues on advanced nodes create significant financial exposure.

For an industry racing to build gate-all-around transistors, backside power delivery networks, and hybrid bonding stacks, the ability to look inside a chip without destroying it is quickly becoming non-negotiable. Invisix’s seed round signals that chipmakers and their equipment ecosystems see the same blind spot—and are already funding the next generation of eyes.