The Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica (SETT), a Public Business Entity under the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, has formalized its €17.2 million public investment in the Spanish photonics company Sparc, announced last June after being approved by the Council of Ministers.
With this capital injection, Spain’s semiconductor technology ecosystem is being strengthened, as the company will set up a plant in Vigo (Pontevedra) dedicated to manufacturing photonic integrated circuits and wafers made of Indium Phosphide (InP), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). In this way, Sparc will help reduce Europe’s semiconductor production gap and contribute to the European Chips Act’s goal of achieving a 20% share of global production by 2030.
This transaction supports the country’s strategic autonomy and represents a commitment to innovation to meet the needs of constantly evolving sectors such as automotive, security, communications, quantum computing, consumer electronics and healthcare.
The signing ceremony for the agreement took place between SPARC Foundry and its main investors — Indra Group, SETT and Vigo Activo — at the facilities of the Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium. The event was attended by Abel Caballero, Mayor of Vigo; Javier Ponce, Director General of the Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica (SETT); Héctor Álvarez, Strategy Director at Indra Group; David Regades, Delegate of the Vigo Free Trade Zone; and Francisco Díaz-Otero, CEO of SPARC.
"SETT uses financial instruments to respond to the new realities of the technology sector and industries demanding digital technologies, relying on a public-private partnership model. Through SETT, the Government of Spain aims to lead the digital revolution — a historic transformation for the evolution of Spain’s economic model. This signing is yet another example that we are making progress towards that goal. Today we are launching a future public-private semiconductor production capacity with high flexibility," said Javier Ponce, Director General of SETT.
SETT’s contribution of €17.2 million, representing a 43.9% capital increase in the company, will have a major impact on talent retention, the use of cutting-edge advanced technology and the development of the SME ecosystem in Spain.
The transaction follows SETT’s co-investment model, reinforcing public-private collaboration in strategic sectors such as this one. SETT’s investment is part of the PERTE Chip, aimed at strengthening Spain’s microelectronics and semiconductor design and production capabilities. Managing the PERTE Chip fund, as envisaged in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, is among SETT’s responsibilities, in addition to two other financial instruments designed to boost Spain’s tech business ecosystem: Next Tech, focused on disruptive technologies, and the Spain Audiovisual Hub, which drives the digitalization of the audiovisual sector.
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