DARPA Microelectronics Resilient and Innovative Cycling

DARPA Microelectronics Resilient and Innovative Cycling (ERI 2.0) sits under DARPA's microelectronics effort, with the record pairing it with the Department of Commerce and NIST. It is a U.S. grant route aimed at pushing microelectronics resilience and innovation rather than broad general-purpose research. Awards run from $500,000 to $30 million, with a median actual award of $3 million. The program is annual, requires a U.S.-based for-profit applicant, allows nonprofits, excludes individuals, and targets TRL 3 to TRL 7 work in microelectronics, semiconductors, and packaging. The route does not require match funding, but it does expect applicants to clear foreign-ownership and control scrutiny. The strongest fit is a team advancing advanced packaging, photonic devices, or chiplets with enough technical depth to justify a large federal award. Applicants do best when the work is sharply scoped, defensible at the system level, and clearly tied to domestic microelectronics capability rather than a generic hardware pitch.

No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.