30 September 2025

MoveTheNeedle.news previously chronicled Enschede’s ascent as a center for hardware-driven deep tech and photonics innovation. Our readers know the region’s strength lies not in hype, but in its engineering DNA. Its photonics startups, microfluidics pioneers, and quantum spin-outs all trace roots to a rich academic-industrial ecosystem.

Now that ecosystem is scaling up — literally. The latest chapter in Twente’s deep tech story is ChipTech Twente, a regional alliance accelerating efforts to put the region on the map of Europe’s semiconductor and photonics industry.

At the heart of ChipTech Twente’s ambition is the shift from lab-scale breakthroughs to industrial pilot production of photonic integrated circuits (PICs). This is not just about publishing papers or spinning out startups — it’s about building the factories where Europe’s next generation of chips will be made.

The timing is no accident. In August 2025, the PIXEurope initiative was officially launched: a €400 million program to establish a distributed European pilot line for photonic chips, involving partners from 11 countries. Twente secured a central role, alongside Eindhoven, Berlin, and other photonics hubs.

The Dutch contribution — roughly €193 million — is earmarked for two pilot factories: an indium phosphide (InP) line in Eindhoven, and a silicon nitride (SiN) line in Enschede. Construction of the Enschede facility has already begun under the New Origin banner. If the schedule holds, the first chips should roll off its pilot line by late 2026.

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The Deep Tech Engine: University of Twente

The foundations for this leap were laid decades ago at the University of Twente. With its strong focus on applied science, the university has spun out more than 1,000 companies and built world-class institutes in nanotechnology, robotics, and photonics.

Its MESA+ Institute provides one of the largest nanofabrication facilities in Europe, training generations of engineers and researchers who now populate local firms like LioniX International (photonic chip design), PHIX (packaging), and Micronit (microfluidics). These companies aren’t just suppliers — they are the backbone of Twente’s semiconductor supply chain.

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Kennispark and Novel-T: The Commercial Bridge

As we noted in earlier reporting, Twente doesn’t separate science from commercialization. At Kennispark Twente, the innovation district adjacent to the university, hundreds of startups and scale-ups sit side by side with research labs. Organizations like Novel-T mentor founders, connect them to investors, and help secure EU and national funding.

That same infrastructure now supports ChipTech Twente’s ambition. With Novel-T and Oost NL (the regional development agency) involved, the pilot line isn’t just an academic exercise — it’s designed from the outset to serve industrial customers and global markets.

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Timeline: Building Europe’s Photonic Foundry

• January 2025 – Construction started: New Origin began building its silicon nitride photonic chip facility in Enschede.

• August 2025 – PIXEurope launched: €400m pan-European pilot line program announced, with Twente as one of the nodes.

• Late 2025 – Groundwork: Site preparation and cleanroom construction accelerate in Enschede.

• 2026 – Pilot line operations: First test wafers expected; customer prototyping begins.

• 2027–2028 – Scaling phase: Move from prototypes to small-series production, with a focus on telecom, quantum, and sensing applications.

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Why It Matters

When the conversation turns to semiconductors, most people think of Taiwan, South Korea, or Silicon Valley. Yet the next wave of chips may not rely on electrons at all, but on photons — the particles of light. And here, Europe faces a choice: either build its own industrial base, or remain dependent on others.

Photonics is not science fiction. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are already being used in data centres, medical imaging devices, and advanced sensors. By transmitting information with light rather than electricity, they offer huge gains in speed and energy efficiency. For the EU, which has set ambitious climate targets and is grappling with ballooning energy use in ICT, this is more than a technical detail — it is a matter of sustainability.

The stakes go beyond green credentials. Photonics underpins strategic technologies ranging from 6G telecom networks to quantum computing and defence systems. At the moment, Europe imports most of its advanced chips. This makes the continent vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, trade disputes, and geopolitical tensions. The pandemic showed how fragile those links can be; recent export restrictions on advanced semiconductors from Asia and the U.S. have only sharpened the urgency.

Building a local photonics industry addresses that vulnerability. It allows European startups and SMEs to scale without shifting production abroad. It creates high-skilled jobs and keeps talent trained at universities in Twente, Eindhoven, Berlin, or Leuven from flowing to foreign hubs. And it ensures that the value created by research breakthroughs in European labs translates into European factories — not just patents sold overseas.

There is also an economic argument. The photonics sector already generates over €100 billion annually in Europe, according to Photonics21. With demand for bandwidth, computing power, and sensing only accelerating, the market is set to expand rapidly. Regions that build production capacity now will capture the lion’s share of that growth.

This is why Twente’s new New Origin facility is more than a local project: it is a piece of Europe’s industrial future.

Europe has missed chances before in semiconductors. It cannot afford to miss the photonics wave.