France: EIB lends €7.5 million to Menta to speed up its development

Paris, February 2, 2022 -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) and French company Menta, a pioneer in the European reprogrammable semiconductor industry (embedded Field Programmable Gate Array — eFPGA), have signed a €7.5 million finance contract.

The aim of the operation is to support Menta’s growth and technological development in a fast-growing sector. This funding should, in particular, make it possible to speed up the commercialisation of its innovative products and services. The operation also directly supports the creation of more than 40 FTE posts in the European Union, in particular highly-qualified R&D and sales jobs.

Menta is a globally recognised specialist in eFPGA technology. eFPGAs are integrated circuits composed of a network of programmable cells used for “Systems on a Chip” (SoC), bringing together all components of a computer on a single chip.

Menta is the only player in the semiconductor industry to offer the revolutionary “soft IP” eFPGA technology. These solutions offer engineers the possibility of flexible, secure, high-performance and low-energy technology. They are adopted by artificial intelligence applications with substantial processing power and energy efficiency demands and whose algorithms are constantly evolving.

At a time when the supply chains of components are very heavily disrupted, Europe has the opportunity to relocate part of the semiconductor production industry to its territory. The unique 100% French technologies and solutions developed by Menta can help make Europe the leader in this strategic sector and create a genuine European microchip supply chain.

The project is expected to strengthen the innovation capacity of European industry in the semiconductor sector. It thus supports the development of the digital sector in Europe and the relevance of its model globally, with positive employment and competitiveness impacts expected.

The loan amount is €7.5 million, divided into two tranches of €3.75 million.

This financing meets the objectives of the European Guarantee Fund, which was set up by the European Union and is managed by the EIB. With €25 billion from the EU Member States, the fund aims to address the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing long-term financing to SMEs in the Member States.

“The EIB is delighted to support a leading European company in the semiconductor industry,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “This is a critical area for the European Union’s strategic autonomy, which is essential for the proper functioning and competitiveness of a vast number of activities that depend on their chip supply. The EU public bank is fulfilling its role in financing the development of highly promising companies such as Menta, whose technologies can enable the European Union to position itself at the cutting edge of a constantly changing sector.”

“The funding provided by the European Investment Bank is a critical step for Menta,” said Menta CEO Vincent Markus. “Against the backdrop of considerable industrial tension globally, which is weighing on the production capacity of many sectors, this operation validates our industrial model and will enable us to accelerate our development. I wish to thank all stakeholders who contributed to its achievement.”

About the European Investment Bank (EIB)

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term financing institution of the European Union, and its shareholders are the 27 EU Member States. The EIB’s remit is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States. It borrows large volumes of funds on the capital markets and lends them on very favourable terms to support projects that contribute to attaining the European Union’s objectives. Innovation funding is one of the key EIB's priorities, accounting for more than one third of the €9.2 billion of financing it provided in France in 2021.

About Menta

A non-listed company based in Sophia-Antipolis (France), Menta is a recognised pioneer of eFPGAs for ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) and SoC circuit designers who seek speed, accuracy, performance and efficiency. The adaptable architecture of eFPGAs, based on standard cells and a set of state-of-the-art tools, offers the highest degree of customisation, the best testing efficiency and rapid growth in volumes for SoC design in any foundry. www.menta-efpga.com.