Rapidus enters the customer race for Japan's $15 billion chip bet.

Rapidus has partnered with 17 companies, including chip-design software specialist Synopsys and technology services group Infosys, as it prepares to offer contract manufacturing at the 2-nanometre node. Reuters reported that the company aims to begin production in the second half of Japan's next fiscal year.

Japan has committed about $15 billion to the venture, which also collaborates with IBM. The technical roadmap is ambitious, but Rapidus must still demonstrate competitive yields, secure anchor customers and build a profitable order book before a targeted listing around the fiscal year ending March 2032.