PERTE Chip II strengthens the Innova IRV technological ecosystem with three new microelectronics projects
The Ministry of Industry and Tourism has awarded a total of 40.6 million euros, of which 18.9 million have been mobilized by companies and projects involving the Ricardo Valle Foundation.
The Ministry of Industry and Tourism has announced the provisional allocation of 40.6 million euros to seven projects submitted to the second call of PERTE Chip, within the section aimed at boosting projects along the microelectronics value chain.
Companies from the Innova IRV ecosystem have succeeded in mobilizing nearly half of these funds — a total of 18.9 million euros — distributed among Vodafone Intelligent Solutions Spain, Tecnologías, Servicios Telemáticos y Sistemas, and Sensing & Control Systems.
Among the awarded projects, the largest share — 13.9 million euros — has gone to Vodafone Intelligent Solutions Spain, based in Málaga, which aims to develop an open chip architecture.
The SINAPTIX project, led by Sensing & Control Systems (S&C), which has received 2.1 million euros, includes collaboration from the Innova IRV Foundation to study open-source RISC-V core IPs, with the goal of designing an ultra-tiny, low-power processor based on the RISC-V architecture, optimizing both energy efficiency and chip area.
This type of processor is especially useful in small, low-power devices such as smart sensors, wearables, medical devices, and automation systems.
Additionally, Tecnologías, Servicios Telemáticos y Sistemas (TST) is participating in the RHEIN-MMIC project, which has been awarded 2.9 million euros. This project focuses on the development of RF MMIC devices integrated with RISC-V cores for energy-efficient communications and heterogeneous integration.
This is key for applications such as 5G networks, satellites, IoT, and advanced telecommunications.
With the awarding of these projects, since its creation Innova IRV has helped mobilize over 650 million euros in initiatives related to microelectronics, consolidating its position as a reference in this strategic sector.
Among its most notable achievements, the Foundation actively supported the establishment of the Interuniversity Microelectronics Institute (IMEC) in Málaga — one of the world leaders in semiconductor and nanoelectronics research.
Ezequiel Navarro, president of Innova IRV, highlighted the significance of these awards:
“The arrival of these projects is key to continuing the development of a microelectronics ecosystem from Innova IRV that allows us to consolidate the potential of our companies in the semiconductor market and attract more capabilities and specialized talent.”
“We are building a technological infrastructure that will not only drive innovation but also strengthen our global competitiveness. This is a fundamental step toward becoming a strategic hub within the chip industry, reinforcing collaboration among companies, research centers, and universities,” Navarro stated.
These awards add to those already committed by the three levels of government to IMEC (615 million euros) and the “chip chairs”, which have brought nearly 11 million euros to Andalusian universities for PhD training in semiconductors.
