The Japanese government will invest up to 802.5 billion yen (approximately 791 billion won) in Rapidus to revive its advanced semiconductor industry.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Kyodo News on the 31st, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry decided to provide additional funding for Rapidus's semiconductor manufacturing equipment purchases and production management system development.
The Japanese National Assembly is currently reviewing related legislation to support Rapidus, and if this legislation passes, the Japanese government will also provide an additional 100 billion yen (approximately 98.5 billion won) in the form of investment. So far, the Japanese government has decided to invest 920 billion yen (approximately 960 billion won) in Rapidus.
As a result, the total funding support from the Japanese government to Rapidus (including investments) will increase to 1.8225 trillion yen (approximately 1.796 trillion won).
Rapidus is a company established in 2022 under the leadership of the Japanese government, which has set up a factory in Chitose City, Hokkaido, and is set to begin production of its cutting-edge 2-nanometer (1 nanometer is one billionth of a meter) prototype next month.
The company estimates that a total of 5 trillion yen (approximately 49 trillion won) in funding will be needed to achieve mass production of its 2-nanometer products by 2027.
Eight major Japanese companies, including Toyota, Kioxia, Sony, NTT, SoftBank, NEC, Denso, and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, are shareholders of Rapidus; however, their total investment amount is still only 7.3 billion yen (approximately 719 million won).