Source Foundry
Category: AI Chips / Semiconductors
Stealth semiconductor equipment startup building alternative extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools to challenge ASML for AI chip manufacturing. Source Foundry was founded in 2025. The company is led by Abdulmalik Obaid. Based in San Francisco, USA. Total funding raised: $500M. Latest round: Venture Round. Key investors include Situational Awareness (Leopold Aschenbrenner), Sequoia Capital.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, USA
- Total funding
- $500M
Value proposition
Redesigning lithography tooling and manufacturing processes upstream of the fab to suit AI workloads, aiming to make AI chip production faster and cheaper while bypassing ASML's EUV monopoly.
Products and solutions
Alternative EUV lithography machines, equipment, and software for AI chip manufacturing.
Unique value
Building alternative EUV lithography tools designed to bypass ASML's manufacturing monopoly, targeting the AI supply chain bottleneck upstream of the fab.
Target customer
Semiconductor fabs and AI chip manufacturers (AI accelerator producers) needing advanced lithography equipment.
Industries served
Semiconductor manufacturing / AI chip production
Technology advantage
Novel EUV lithography approach developed by Stanford materials scientists; targets the critical bottleneck in advanced semiconductor manufacturing for AI workloads.
How they differentiate
Focuses specifically on AI workloads and redesigning upstream tooling/processes to challenge ASML's EUV monopoly, rather than incremental improvements to existing lithography.
Main competitors
ASML (dominant EUV lithography supplier), other advanced lithography equipment makers
Key partnerships
Backed by Sequoia Capital and Situational Awareness (Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund).
Major milestones
Founded 2025 by Stanford researchers, raised ~$5B valuation round backed by Sequoia, received $500M total commitment from Situational Awareness (including $400M fresh infusion in Aug 2026).
Market positioning
Early-stage stealth challenger to ASML in the EUV lithography market, valued at ~$5B with backing from Sequoia and Situational Awareness.
Geographic focus
United States (San Francisco); global semiconductor manufacturing market
About Abdulmalik Obaid
Ex-Stanford University Researcher; PhD from Stanford University (2019) in silicon computing and brain-machine interfaces. Co-founded Source Foundry to reinvent EUV lithography for AI chips.