Qualinx, a Delft-based European fabless semiconductor company, raised €20 million in funding led by Invest-NL, with participation from existing investors FORWARD.one, InnovationQuarter Capital and Waterman Ventures. The round brings Qualinx’s total funding to date to €40 million.
The company said it will use the capital to accelerate growth and scale mass production of its market-ready QLX3Gx Series GNSS chip, targeting demand from global OEMs across wearables, pet trackers, IoT devices, drones and UAVs, vehicle and asset tracking, telecommunications, and satellite-related applications. Qualinx also said it plans a Series B round in the second half of 2026.
Qualinx positions the QLX3Gx as a next-generation GNSS solution built on its proprietary Digital Radio Frequency (DRF) architecture, which shifts traditionally analog radio functions into the digital domain. The company says this approach enables CMOS scaling benefits for GNSS—reducing power, size, and cost—while allowing radios to be configured and reconfigured via software for different use cases over time.
The QLX3Gx Series is described as a highly integrated single-chip design that combines an ultra-low-power digital RF front end with an advanced GNSS digital baseband engine. Qualinx claims the chip can deliver up to 10x lower energy use than conventional GNSS chips and up to 5x performance, with a 5 × 5 mm footprint designed for space- and battery-constrained devices. The chip supports concurrent tracking across multiple GNSS constellations and simultaneous multi-band processing, and emphasizes on-chip processing to improve resilience against spoofing, jamming, and interference.
Qualinx highlighted European supply-chain positioning and security as differentiators, noting that the QLX3Gx is manufactured at GlobalFoundries’ site in Dresden, Germany. The company also said it has integrated Galileo OSNMA (Open Service Navigation Message Authentication) protocols in collaboration with EUSPA.
KEY QUOTES:
“The market has been forced to accept traditional semiconductor trade-offs in GNSS for far too long… Our market-ready QLX3Gx Series GNSS chip delivers ultra-low power consumption without compromising performance at a reduced system cost compared to incumbent solutions, democratizing access to connectivity and making GNSS viable at scale.”
Tom Trill, CEO, Qualinx
“Qualinx is a standout example of Dutch deep-tech innovation in strategic semiconductor technology… With its extremely energy-efficient and reconfigurable GNSS chip, Qualinx strengthens European technological autonomy and contributes to a more sustainable digital infrastructure.”
Johan Stins, Senior Investment Manager, Invest-NL
