GARCHING, Germany, October 13, 2026. SUSS MicroTec has thrown its weight behind Europe’s deep-tech startup scene through a fresh alliance with Ignite Next, a scale-up platform that pairs semiconductor pioneers with the industrial muscle needed to reach production. The German equipment maker will contribute its manufacturing know-how while gaining an early read on technologies that could redefine chip packaging and fabrication over the coming decade.
The move reflects a broader scramble among legacy chip suppliers to lock in visibility with emerging innovation hubs. Ignite Next runs a founder-first accelerator model, built independently after spinning out from Intel Ignite. Its network already counts Infineon, Intel, and Synopsys among corporate partners, all chasing IP-rich ventures in semiconductors, physical AI, and advanced computing.
As the program’s designated semiconductor equipment partner, SUSS will join technology scouting missions, startup evaluations, and expert exchanges. The company gets a structured pipeline for spotting future customer demands and evaluating new application fields. Startups, meanwhile, tap SUSS’s process engineering depth to industrialize lab-stage breakthroughs.
“Our customers, research partners and R&D teams remain at the core of our innovation strategy,” said Burkhardt Frick, CEO of SUSS. “Ignite Next complements this foundation by connecting us with leading startups, technology companies and investors.”
Markus Bohl, co-founder and CEO of Ignite Next, framed the partnership around speed to scale. “Every breakthrough innovation starts as an idea in a founder’s lab,” he said, “but it only changes the world once it can be built at scale. SUSS helps our founders make the leap from lab to fab.”
SUSS, headquartered near Munich, employs roughly 1,500 people and posted sales near €500 million. Its stock trades on the Frankfurt exchange as part of the TecDAX and MDAX indices. The company runs production sites in Germany and Taiwan, with development centers across Europe, Asia, and the United States.
The alliance gives SUSS strategic optionality beyond its existing growth map, particularly for opportunities materializing after 2030. For Europe’s semiconductor ambitions, it signals another corporate anchor committing to the region’s startup ecosystem at a moment when supply chain resilience dominates boardroom agendas.
