French fabless chipmaker NanoXplore has successfully secured €20 million in funding to accelerate its expansion into the defense sector and fuel its strategic growth across Europe. The investment comes from MBDA, a leading European defense company, and the Defense Innovation Fund, which is managed by Bpifrance. This capital injection marks a critical step in the company’s mission to provide high-performance, secure electronic components that ensure Europe’s technological autonomy.
About The Company
Founded in 2013, NanoXplore is an independent, family-owned fabless IC design company specializing in radiation-hardened (rad-hard) components. The company produces FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays)—integrated circuits designed to operate in extreme environments such as space and defense systems.
NanoXplore recently launched NG-ULTRA, claimed to be the world’s most advanced rad-hard SoC FPGA. Its technology is already a cornerstone of major European space initiatives, including the Galileo and Copernicus missions. A key differentiator for NanoXplore is its “ITAR-free” status, meaning its products rely on a 100% European supply chain and are not subject to United States defense export regulations.
Funding Details
The €20 million round represents a strategic partnership between industrial expertise and sovereign investment. MBDA provides a deep understanding of the operational needs of European armed forces, while Bpifrance’s Defense Innovation Fund aligns the transaction with France’s national strategy to protect critical microelectronics.
Édouard Lepape, CEO of NanoXplore, stated: “As an independent French company, we have shown that it is possible to design and produce state-of-the-art advanced electronic chips in Europe. This funding round will allow us to go further: accelerate our diversification into defence… Our ambition is clear: to make NanoXplore the reference player for European electronic sovereignty.”
Nicolas Berdou, Investment Director at Bpifrance, added that NanoXplore embodies the fund’s goal of supporting SMEs mastering technologies critical to sovereignty, specifically highlighting their European supply chain as a strategic priority.
Market Opportunity
The demand for high-reliability, sovereign microelectronics is surging as geopolitical tensions increase. By providing an ITAR-free alternative to non-European components, NanoXplore is uniquely positioned to capture market share in both the space and defense industries. Their ability to produce reconfigurable circuits that can withstand extreme radiation allows them to serve sectors where reliability is non-negotiable, from land and air systems to naval and space infrastructure.
Use of Funds
NanoXplore will utilize the €20 million to drive growth in two primary areas:
- Defense Diversification: Developing a new generation of security-focused components, including secured FPGAs and ultra-low power devices tailored for land, air, and naval defense systems.
- External Growth: Executing a strategy of targeted acquisitions across Europe to broaden their product portfolio, acquire complementary expertise, and consolidate the European industrial base in critical microelectronics.
