Indian semiconductor start-ups have raised approximately $206 million across 51 funding rounds since 2022, as investor interest shifts towards fewer but larger bets on homegrown chip companies, according to the Indian Semiconductor Startup Landscape 2026, released by venture capital firm Speciale Invest in partnership with the Startup Policy Forum (SPF).

Bigger money, fewer rounds

Semiconductor startups raised $61.9 million in the first half of 2026 alone, equivalent to 81% of the $76.6 million raised across the whole of 2025.

The number of funding rounds fell from 16 in 2024 to 13 in 2025, and seven in the first half of 2026, even as capital deployed rose sharply, indicating that investors are concentrating money behind companies that have moved further along product development and commercialisation, rather than spreading bets across a wider set of early-stage start-ups.

Role of public funding

The report finds a growing link between government-backed semiconductor programmes and private venture funding. Of the 24 chip-design projects supported under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) programme, 14 have subsequently raised institutional venture capital, together pulling in $100.8 million across their first and second rounds.

Six of those companies have already closed follow-on rounds worth a combined $53.6 million. Four companies — C2i Semiconductors, NetraSemi, Morphing Machines, and Mindgrove Technologies — account for approximately 56% of all private capital raised by DLI-backed companies. The report reads this as an early indication that public funding for design, tooling and tape-outs is helping semiconductor startups cross technical milestones that subsequently attract institutional investors.

“Government support is helping companies cross expensive early technical milestones, while private investors are following with larger first cheques and follow-on capital. The next test is whether this momentum can carry companies from design and validation into scaled products, repeat customers, and globally relevant businesses,” said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest.

Broadening base

It identifies a broadening of India’s semiconductor startup base, where the first wave of companies focused largely on digital, RF, RISC-V, and edge SoCs. Newer companies are emerging in photonics, power and compound semiconductors, fab tooling and metrology, AI data-centre silicon, AI-led semiconductor design workflows, and analog AI inference.

“The next generation of investable semiconductor companies in India will not come from chip design alone. We see significant room to build across equipment and materials, design IP and EDA, analogue and RF, advanced packaging and AI infrastructure. For India to produce its first $100 million-plus semiconductor product exits, these companies will need to combine deep technical IP with strong founding teams, early anchor customers, and access to enough growth capital to stay the course through long product cycles. That is the next stage of maturity we will be watching closely,” said Arjun Rao, co-founder and General Partner, Speciale Invest.

Published - August 12, 2026 03:11 pm IST