At the Free Silicon Conference 2025, Matt Venn announced that Tiny Tapeout has received funding to add GF180MCU support to their educational infrastructure. Future GF180MCU tapeouts will be run through wafer.space.

The Big Announcement

During his presentation at FSiC 2025, Matt Venn revealed that Tiny Tapeout has secured funding to add support for the GF180MCU process alongside their existing SKY130 and iHP130 offerings. GF180MCU provides a cost-effective option for silicon education and prototyping.

Key highlights from the announcement:

• Funding secured to add GF180MCU infrastructure support
• Partnership established with wafer.space for GF180MCU manufacturing
• Cost-effective option with the GF180MCU process
• Continued educational focus with production-quality results

Why This Matters

This partnership helps bridge the gap between education and low-volume silicon manufacturing:

For Students and Educators

• Access to cost-effective GF180MCU process
• Real-world manufacturing through wafer.space
• Clear path from learning to low-volume production

For the Silicon Community

• Lower barrier to entry for chip design
• More affordable prototyping options
• Stronger educational foundation for the industry

For wafer.space

• Educational pipeline feeding into low-volume production services
• Broader community engagement
• Validation of accessible silicon manufacturing model

GF180MCU Process Characteristics

Adding GF180MCU support provides:

• Cost effectiveness - significantly lower cost than SKY130 or iHP130
• Mature technology - proven 180nm process
• Industry relevance - GF180MCU is widely used in production
• Tool compatibility with established design flows

What’s Next

Development is underway, with Tiny Tapeout working on:

1. Infrastructure expansion - Adding GF180MCU to their educational platform
2. Design kit integration - Ensuring seamless student experience
3. Manufacturing partnership - Coordinating with wafer.space processes
4. Timeline planning - Setting expectations for availability

Join the Journey

Whether you’re a student looking to get started in silicon design or an engineer wanting to prototype your next idea, this partnership offers a clear pathway:

Start with Tiny Tapeout → Learn the fundamentals for $50-200 Transition to wafer.space → Move to low-volume production starting at $7,000

This represents a step toward more accessible silicon manufacturing through education.

Interested in this development? Join Tiny Tapeout or learn more about wafer.space.

Conference Details:

• Event: Free Silicon Conference 2025
• Speaker: Matt Venn, Founder of Tiny Tapeout
• Presentation: View slides
• Recording: Link will be added when available