SecureFoundry, a US-based semiconductor manufacturer, has completed its expansion of manufacturing capabilities and reverse-engineering services designed to address gaps in the nation’s microelectronics supply chain at a time when both emerging technologies and legacy systems face increasing barriers to fabrication.
With the global semiconductor market expected to reach $697 billion this year, according to Gartner, SecureFoundry fills a vital gap with low- and mixed-volume manufacturing solutions that support innovation, defence readiness, and advanced research.
Founded in 2016, SecureFoundry began by manufacturing technology for the US military. Over time, the company recognised a growing market need among universities, startups, and government entities for cost-effective prototyping, short-run manufacturing, and production of obsolete parts. These are projects that often fall outside the scope of high-volume fabs, either due to scale, cost, or production lead times.
To address this, SecureFoundry operates from a trusted domestic foundry, combining traditional and maskless lithography techniques. Its flexible model allows developers to test and iterate chip designs quickly, without the high upfront investment in photomasks, thereby reducing time to market.
“There is a tremendous backlog of new and innovative chip designs waiting in the wings for development and commercialisation,” said Lex Keen, CEO of SecureFoundry. “We are stepping up to address this challenge and unleash domestic technology innovation. Historically, finding the right manufacturing partner willing to perform diverse volume runs at a reasonable price has been daunting. We are making manufacturing accessible while reducing time and cost, making it possible to bring new technologies to market faster than ever before.”
In addition to prototyping and manufacturing, SecureFoundry plays a critical role in sustaining national infrastructure by enabling domestic production of legacy components. This work, including government-backed reverse-engineering programmes, helps maintain operability of essential systems where even a single missing microcontroller can jeopardise broader system functionality.
“Many of these chips weren’t discontinued due to lack of demand; they disappeared because the original fabrication capability no longer exists,” Keen said. “Our ability to reverse engineer and restart production of legacy components fills this critical gap.”
SecureFoundry also partners with leading top-tier research institutions to advance new technologies. In one recent collaboration, the company supported the fabrication of photonic circuitry that had previously been impossible to fabricate through standard methods, demonstrating how accessible manufacturing can unlock dormant innovation.
SecureFoundry’s flexible production model can handle virtually any wafer size or shape, including square panels, providing developers unmatched versatility without relying on overseas production or high-volume contracts.
“Too many good ideas stall at the edge of feasibility because the manufacturing system isn’t designed to support them,” Keen added. “We built SecureFoundry to remove those barriers.”
