QIA Joins $380 Million Funding Round for Dutch Chip Firm Nearfield

Nearfield Instruments, a Netherlands-based semiconductor metrology equipment company, has raised $380 million in a Series D funding round that values the business at $1.6 billion, with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) among the participating investors.

The round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and included participation from QIA, Temasek, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Innovation Industries, M&G Investments, Invest-NL, TNO Ventures and ING.

Founded in 2016 by Hamed Sadeghian and Roland van Vliet, Nearfield develops equipment used to measure and inspect microscopic features on advanced semiconductor chips. Its technology allows manufacturers to analyse increasingly complex chip structures at the nanometre scale, helping improve production yields and process control.

The company currently operates across Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Belgium and the Netherlands.

As demand for more powerful AI systems drives advances in semiconductor manufacturing, tools used to monitor and control chip production have become a critical part of the artificial intelligence supply chain.

According to the company, the fresh capital will be used to accelerate product development, establish new application centres around the world, strengthen customer support operations and deepen research and development partnerships with leading semiconductor manufacturers through dedicated Applications Centres of Excellence.

For QIA, the investment forms part of a broader strategy focused on technology companies across the AI value chain as demand for advanced computing infrastructure continues to rise.