Semiconductor startup landscape in India - a 2025 perspective

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Ankur Capital was invited to continue leading the session on the semiconductor startup landscape at the SemiX Summit, IIT Bombay in September 2025. This presentation was first given at the summit, and is reproduced here for wider distribution.

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2025 saw steady and encouraging progress in the semiconductor startup ecosystem in India, highlighted by notable Series A fundraises, large conception-stage seed investments, and a number of product & packaging partnerships announced during the year. We’re excited about the buzz of activity clustering in the datacentre and camera markets, as well as new frontiers of innovation beyond just fabless design startups.

Semiconductor funding in India has been robust in 2025, with a significant increase in the median round size. This has been driven by three Series A fundraises (Netrasemi, Mindgrove & Morphing Machines) as well as large seed rounds (Maieutic, Agrani Labs). M&A has been highlighted by NXP’s $300M+ acquisition of Kinara AI, offering successful exits to Indian investors and entrepreneurs who are now diving back into the semiconductor ecosystem.

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Startup activity, catalyzed and encouraged by progress in the last couple of years, has expanded in horizon. Firstly, academic spin-offs continue to be formed at an encouraging rate. Secondly, startup activity is entering areas beyond fabless chip design - with new activity in metrology & inspection, lithography, and process & manufacturing innovation.

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We’re seeing encouraging new trends in both capital allocation and partnerships involving large companies, creating a broader and more robust support ecosystem for early-stage startups in the space. 

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If you are an entrepreneur, investor, or expert in this space, email me at vishal.katariya@ankurcapital.com. We would love to learn about your work, or have your input in our next report.