Grenoble, January 28, 2026 – Amidst significant strain on semiconductor value chains and the growing importance of technological sovereignty, ASTEERICS—France’s microelectronics competence center—has officially launched. Funded by the European Union via the Chips Joint Undertaking and supported by the French government under the France 2030 plan, ASTEERICS aims to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient integrated circuit technologies among French startups, SMEs, and industrial players.
In 2025, 30 microelectronics competence centers (Chips Competence Centres) across 28 European countries were selected under the European Chips Act, with the goal of elevating Europe’s semiconductor expertise to the next level.
Led by Minalogic—in partnership with CNFM¹, Captronic, and five other competitiveness clusters (Aktantis, Alpha-RLH, Images & Réseaux, Smart Power, and Systematic Paris-Région)—the French competence center ASTEERICS serves as the national entry point for informing, training, and supporting companies with their ASIC, ASSP, FPGA, MEMS, or PIC (Photonic Integrated Circuit) projects.
The French competence center is an integral part of the European network of Chips Competence Centres—strategic components of the European Chips Act—and will foster close collaboration with other European centers. This collaboration aims to promote synergies, knowledge sharing, and coordinated access to European semiconductor resources (such as pilot lines and design platforms) across national borders.
Addressing a strategic challenge for European industry
While microelectronics lies at the heart of the digital, energy, and industrial transitions, many companies still struggle to adopt integrated technologies due to a lack of skills, limited visibility regarding existing solutions, or restricted access to industrial resources. ASTEERICS aims to overcome these barriers by leveraging three key sovereign, energy-efficient technologies: FDSOI, GaN, and SiC.
ASTEERICS will offer:
awareness-raising and training sessions for decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and engineers,
personalized technical and economic support to identify the technology best suited to growth objectives, structure projects, and facilitate access to funding,
privileged access to European expertise, tools, and infrastructure.
1 Consortium for the national coordination of training in microelectronics and nanotechnology
“ASTEERICS addresses a very concrete need for companies: understanding when and how to transition to integrated circuit technologies and receiving support at every stage—from opportunity analysis to accessing pilot lines and securing funding,” highlights Hervé Ribot, Director of the ASTEERICS competence center and Director of Technology Development at Minalogic. “The challenge is not merely technological; it is also economic and strategic. ASTEERICS helps companies build viable, competitive, and fundable projects,” he adds.
A national and European partner network
ASTEERICS is not a center physically located at a single site. It is a national networked initiative that relies on an ecosystem of academic, industrial, and institutional partners spread across various regions, while connecting to European resources: pilot lines (including FAMES, based in Grenoble), the European EuroCDP design platform, design houses, foundries, and OSATs.
A launch event on January 28 to unite the ecosystem
The official launch of ASTEERICS features a full day of conferences, roundtables, and case studies, bringing together European experts, industry players, investors, and institutional stakeholders. Discussions will focus in particular on the challenges facing the electronics sector, existing national and European mechanisms and infrastructure, and the key success factors for projects developing energy-efficient integrated circuits.
– Press Contact –
Ingrid Mattioni – Tel.: +336 76 26 05 03 – Email: ingrid.mattioni@minalogic.com