Thema Foundries

TLDR

Thema Foundries is a startup building Europe's first dedicated photonic chip factory, located in Oudenaarde with EUR 200M in investment, founded in 2025.

Overview

Founded in 2025 in Oudenaarde, Thema Foundries is establishing what is described as Europe's first dedicated photonic chip foundry. The company has attracted EUR 200M in investment to build manufacturing infrastructure for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), a sector that has historically required companies to rely on a small number of specialized foundries, most outside Europe.

The strategic significance is considerable: as demand grows for photonic components in data center interconnects, sensing, and quantum systems, European semiconductor sovereignty has become a policy priority. A dedicated photonic foundry in Flanders would anchor the region's photonics cluster more firmly in the global supply chain.

Thema Foundries connects directly to the established Belgian photonics ecosystem centered on Ghent University, imec, Sentea, and Luceda Photonics.