Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is preparing to pour another ¥150 billion — about US$944 million — into Rapidus Corporation, the state-backed foundry racing to bring 2-nanometer logic manufacturing to Hokkaido by 2027, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 25.
METI Wants Rapidus In The FY2027 Budget
METI intends to include the fresh equity in its fiscal 2027 budget request, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The allocation would flow through the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA) and mark the third round of Japanese-government equity in Rapidus, lifting Tokyo's cumulative direct investment to roughly ¥400 billion (about $2.5 billion).
The move builds on a ¥150 billion IPA financing that Rapidus completed in June 2026 and comes on top of a ¥250 billion equity stake and previously disclosed R&D grants from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Why Tokyo Keeps Writing Bigger Checks
Founded in 2022 with backing from Toyota, Sony, SoftBank, NEC, Denso, Kioxia, MUFG Bank and NTT, Rapidus is Japan's national champion in leading-edge logic. It is building its Innovative Integration for Manufacturing (IIM) fab in Chitose, Hokkaido, and reported its first successful 2nm GAA transistor operation in July 2025. Mass production is scheduled for 2027 — the same window in which TSMC targets its 1.6nm A16 node and rivals push their own gate-all-around roadmaps.
Chasing TSMC, Samsung And Intel
Tokyo says a homegrown source of advanced logic is critical for AI, robotics and quantum computing, categories where Japan currently depends on Taiwan's TSMC and, to a lesser extent, Samsung Electronics and Intel. Rapidus' cycle-time-first RUMS foundry model and its Rapid AI-Agentic Design Solution — the subject of a recent tie-up with Cadence — are pitched as the differentiators against those hyperscale foundries.
The additional state money follows a run of international partnerships for the startup, including memoranda of understanding with the UK Semiconductor Centre and Italy's Fondazione Chips-IT signed earlier this year, plus ¥167.6 billion in private-sector contributions from 32 backers.
Reporting based on coverage from Bloomberg, Tech Monitor and Verdict.