Microchips: Silicon Box’s Vulcan Project, the first site of its kind in the EU, presented in Novara

JOINT PRESS RELEASE BY MIMIT, THE CITY OF NOVARA, THE PIEDMONT REGION, SILICON BOX AND INVITALIA. View the release in Italian here.

Microchips: Silicon Box's Vulcan Project, the first site of its kind in the EU, presented in Novara. Urso: "A historic day. Italy a leading hub for emerging technologies"

NOVARA, ITALY, 9 November 2026 - A €3.2 billion investment, 1,600 direct jobs and the opening of a new technological frontier for Italy and Europe, both called upon to strengthen their role on the global microchip map. "Vulcan Project", the project that will bring to Piedmont the first European plant of Silicon Box, a Singapore-headquartered multinational and a global player in advanced technologies for semiconductor packaging and testing, was presented today in Novara. The initiative marks a fundamental milestone towards the construction of the new production site, the first of its kind in the European Union, specializing in the back-end, packaging and testing phases, with works expected to begin in the first months of 2027. The presentation was preceded by the virtual laying of the foundation stone, with a symbolic ceremony on the land earmarked for the future plant.

The event was attended by the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Senator Adolfo Urso; the President of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, together with the Regional Councilors for Productive Activities, Andrea Tronzano, and for Vocational Training, Daniela Cameroni; the Mayor of Novara and Extraordinary Commissioner for the local investment, Alessandro Canelli; the CEO of Invitalia, Bernardo Mattarella; the co-founder and CEO of Silicon Box, Byung Joon Han; Co-founder and Ecosystems Liaison of Silicon Box, Weili Dai; investors and entrepreneurs from the global microchip supply chain; and leading representatives of the economic and business community, confirming the international dimension of the operation and the teamwork that made it possible to bring this initiative to Novara.

"Today is a special day for all of us at Silicon Box. Novara is where our first global expansion begins, and from here we will bring end-to-end chip manufacturing to Europe," said Dr. Byung Joon (BJ) Han, co-founder and CEO of Silicon Box. With the Vulcan Project, a €3.2 billion investment, Silicon Box will build in Agognate a first-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art advanced panel-level packaging and test facility. The European Commission has already granted the project Open EU Foundry status under the Chips Act. "We are bringing here the same technology with which our team in Singapore has already shipped more than one billion units," Dr. Han added. This technology integrates multiple chiplets into a single package that works as one chip, processing them on large-format panels to deliver higher output at lower cost for customers in artificial intelligence, supercomputing, electric and autonomous vehicles, robotics, mobile devices and space technology. The project will create approximately 1,600 skilled jobs and many more among suppliers and construction contractors, and Silicon Box has committed to developing the new skills it will require. We want to grow together with this community. I want to thank the Italian Government, Invitalia, the Piedmont Region and the City of Novara for the teamwork that made today possible," Dr. Han concluded.

"An unforgettable day. With this investment, Italy is positioning itself to become a leading hub for emerging technologies," said Minister Urso. "The Government has placed microelectronics at the center of its industrial priorities, aware of the decisive role this sector plays in the competitiveness and security of the production system. Vulcan Project is a one-of-a-kind initiative, the result of significant synergy with the local area, which will help strengthen the technological sovereignty of the country and of the continent, reduce foreign dependencies and build a European supply chain for next-generation chips, thereby increasing our strategic autonomy."

"The construction in Piedmont and in Novara of Silicon Box's first plant in Europe is the fruit of a long effort and a confirmation of the attractiveness of this territory in terms of innovation and skills," said President Cirio. "Today we move on to the operational phase of a major investment of over €3.2 billion and 1,600 direct jobs, which Piedmont strongly wanted and for which it beat the competition from major regions in Italy and Europe," he added. "We won because there are skills and professional expertise here and because, thanks to the construction of the European freight transport corridors, this area is destined to be the heart of Europe, not only from a geographical point of view but also in terms of skills. Silicon Box," President Cirio concluded, "is the largest investment by an Asian multinational in Italy. It is a project that changes the face of our economy because it places us in a scenario of innovation and modernity: on the one hand, technology brings development and wealth; on the other, it generates skilled jobs for young people. Together with aerospace, microchips are an industry that increases our chances of keeping young talent and highly specialized skills here."

"Today is a day that will go down in the history of our city. With the presentation of Vulcan Project and the symbolic moment of the project's unveiling, we wanted to give a concrete image to a journey that for a long time was made up of work, international relations, planning and institutional commitment. Today that journey finally takes on a visible dimension and allows us to look ahead to its completion with even greater confidence," said Mayor and Extraordinary Commissioner Canelli.

"When we started working to bring Silicon Box to Novara, we knew we were facing an extraordinary opportunity. Today we can say that we are not just bringing a factory to our area, but a new outlook for industrial, economic and technological development, set to have a profound impact on the future of the city and of Piedmont. As Mayor and as Extraordinary Commissioner for the project, I feel a twofold responsibility: to support this investment all the way to its full completion and to ensure that the area is able to seize all of its opportunities. We will have to work to create the conditions for our businesses to enter the supply chain, for our young people to train to find skilled jobs, and for Novara to become a place capable of attracting new skills, research and further investment. Silicon Box's first plant in Europe will help strengthen a supply chain that is strategic for the future of the continent, at a historic moment when technological and industrial autonomy has become a priority. It is a project that will not only make Novara grow: it will help strengthen the role of Italy and Europe in the technology industry of the future. The real challenge begins now. And we are ready to take it on, together with Silicon Box, the Government, the Piedmont Region and all the parties involved."

"With the launch of this project, we are taking an important step towards the technological autonomy of Italy and Europe. Invitalia has wholeheartedly supported this investment, which brings to the area cutting-edge expertise in advanced microchip packaging, more than 1,600 jobs and a strong boost to related industries. This plant will in fact act as the linchpin of a virtuous ecosystem linking production, local suppliers, universities and research centers. The quality of our work lies precisely in combining support for economic growth with rigor in the use of taxpayers' money. Supporting strategic initiatives such as this one means building a national industry that is more competitive and a leading player in Europe and around the world," said the CEO of Invitalia, Bernardo Mattarella.

"Vulcan Project" involves a total investment of around €3.2 billion, supported by €1.3 billion in public funding managed by the Government through Invitalia, under the national instruments dedicated to strengthening the semiconductor sector, as part of the European Chips Act strategy.

The new site is dedicated to the most advanced chiplet integration, advanced packaging and semiconductor testing technologies, fundamental processes for producing increasingly powerful, efficient and complex components, designed to power the development of artificial intelligence, data centers, supercomputing, electric mobility and next-generation industrial technologies. It is therefore not simply a new production plant. Silicon Box is bringing to Novara skills, technologies and industrial capabilities that today represent one of the most innovative and strategic segments of the entire global semiconductor supply chain.

The project's objective is consistent with the EU's Chips Act strategies, which aim to strengthen the European semiconductor supply chain and to double the EU's share of the global market by 2030. In this context, the initiative has already been granted Open EU Foundry status by the European Commission under the Chips Act, confirming its strategic relevance for the European technology industry.

At full capacity, the plant is expected to generate around 1,600 highly skilled direct jobs, in addition to the opportunities linked to the construction of the facility, the supplier chain, logistics and related industries, with an estimated impact of thousands of additional jobs. Silicon Box's arrival also aims to encourage the emergence of a genuine technological and industrial ecosystem, able to involve local businesses, national manufacturing companies, universities, research centers and the training sector, fostering the growth of highly specialized skills and attracting further international investment.

In this scenario, Piedmont can also capitalize on its strategic position at the heart of Europe, at the junction of the major European corridors for the exchange and transit of goods. So can Novara, which lies halfway between Milan and Turin, close to the two polytechnic universities, and boasts a particularly competitive industrial, logistics and infrastructure fabric.

About Silicon Box

Silicon Box is an advanced chiplet interconnection company specialising in cutting-edge semiconductor integration services. Founded in 2021 by Dr. BJ Han, Dr. Sehat Sutardja, and Weili Dai, the Singapore company is capable of collaborating on everything from initial design to final manufacturing of chiplets through its established relationships with best-in-class partners, has a track record of customer success and proprietary technology. Its state-of-art facility in Singapore provides advanced interconnection capabilities and demonstrates leadership in innovation at this critical epoch of semiconductor manufacturing technology. To learn more about Silicon Box, visit www.silicon-box.com/

Press and Interview Enquiries

Janice Yeo, Press Relations | [email protected]

Investor Enquiries

Michael Han, Head of Business | [email protected]