Indian semiconductor startups have raised $92 million across 12 funding deals during the first five months of 2026, nearly four times the amount raised in the whole of 2025, as per an industry report. The growth has been driven by government initiatives, increasing investor interest and a growing number of companies moving towards production.
According to Venture Intelligence, startups that secured funding this year include Constelli, C2i Semiconductors, HrdWyr and VerveSemi, each raising more than $10 million. Of the total funding raised between January and May 2026, $34 million came through seed rounds across eight deals, while the remaining amount was raised through Series A funding rounds. In comparison, semiconductor startups raised $25 million through six deals in 2025.
Industry founders and investors attributed the increased activity to government support for the sector.
The ministry of electronics and information technology has approved proposals from around two dozen companies under the DLI scheme so far. Several DLI beneficiaries have either raised or are in the process of raising private capital. These include Mindgrove Technologies, VerveSemi, InCore, BigEndian Semiconductors, Calligo Technologies and MOSart Semi.
As the ecosystem matures, at least six semiconductor startups have completed chip tape-outs and sent their designs to foundries for manufacturing. Companies such as C2i Semiconductors, Mindgrove Technologies, VerveSemi and Calligo Technologies have partnered with foundries in Taiwan and South Korea for this process.
Several startups are also moving into production. Mindgrove Technologies and Agnit Semiconductors are expected to begin production later this year.
Over the past two years, a number of executives from global semiconductor companies including AMD, Intel and Texas Instruments have launched startups focused on chip design. Agrani Labs, founded by former Intel and AMD executives, is developing AI inference chips, while C2i Semiconductors, established by former Texas Instruments professionals, is focused on power management solutions for AI data centres.
Industry executives believe that, alongside strong interest from domestic investors, larger funds with assets under management of $300-600 million could also begin investing in India’s semiconductor sector. Despite the progress, industry stakeholders noted that more domestic semiconductor testing companies are needed.