Spain’s semiconductor industry is working to strengthen collaboration across companies, universities, and research centers as it seeks to build a more connected national ecosystem, holding the first AESEMI MatchMaking day in Madrid.
The event brought together chip design firms, fabless startups, packaging houses, and academic research groups to forge new alliances and consolidate the fragmented domestic ecosystem. Spain currently hosts a modest but growing semiconductor sector, with strengths in IC design for automotive and industrial applications, MEMS sensor manufacturing, and photonics research.
Participants highlighted the need for shared foundry access, coordinated talent pipelines, and joint R&D programs to compete with larger European hubs in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. AESEMI, the Spanish semiconductor industry association, is positioning the country as a specialized player in niche chip segments rather than attempting to build large-scale fabrication capacity.
The MatchMaking initiative aligns with Spain’s broader semiconductor strategy under the European Chips Act, which allocates €200M in dedicated funding for domestic chip projects through 2028. Spanish officials have emphasized that the country’s competitive advantages in renewable energy electronics, automotive semiconductors, and MEMS manufacturing provide a realistic path to specialization without competing head-to-head on leading-edge logic nodes.
