India’s semiconductor design ecosystem is gaining steady momentum, with startups supported by the Ministry of Electronics and IT’s (MeitY) Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme and Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme now securing substantial venture capital (VC) funding.

One such firm, Netrasemi, which is developing chips for smart vision, CCTV systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications, has received Rs 1.07 billion in VC investment.

Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, welcomed the investment, highlighting India’s strong design capabilities and noting that the success of Netrasemi would encourage more innovation under the India Semiconductor Mission.

Since the launch of the DLI Scheme in 2022, the government has committed Rs 2.34 billion towards chip design projects proposed by 22 companies, with a combined project cost of Rs 6.9 billion. These chips are intended for a wide range of uses including CCTV cameras, mobile networks, satellites, automobiles, and smart devices.

Collectively, these startups have raised more than Rs 3.8 billion in private funding. Five have already built and tested their chip designs in partnership with global semiconductor manufacturers. Over 72 companies have been granted access to advanced chip design software tools.

Other startups receiving VC backing include Mindgrove Technologies (Rs 850 million for CCTV chip design), and Fermionic Design (Rs 500 million for satellite communication chips). Firms such as Morphing Machines, InCore Semiconductors, and BigEndian Semiconductors are also progressing towards production stages.

The government aims to position India as a ‘product nation’ by supporting young companies to take bold strides in semiconductor design, with private investors increasingly stepping in to help scale and commercialise their innovations.