Indian Semiconductor Startups Raise $206 Million Since 2022; Follow-on capital support flowing in from VCs: Speciale Invest–SPF Report
Indian semiconductor startups have raised approximately $206 million across 51 funding rounds since 2022, as investor interest shifts towards fewer but larger bets in 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).
Semiconductor startups raised $61.9 million in H1 2026 alone — already 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 H1 2026, even as capital deployed rose sharply — a sign 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 startups.
The report was released by Arjun Rao, Co-founder and General Partner at Speciale Invest, in the presence of S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), at Semicon Baatcheet, an event organised by SPF.
The Numbers
| Metric | Figure |
| Total funding raised since 2022 (across 51 rounds) | ~$206 million |
| Annual funding, 2022 | $1.5 million |
| Annual funding, 2025 | $76.6 million (up ~51x since 2022) |
| Funding, H1 2026 | $61.9 million (81% of full-year 2025) |
| Number of rounds, 2024 → 2025 → H1 2026 | 16 → 13 → 7 |
| DLI-backed startups that went on to raise VC | 14 of 24 (58%) |
| Capital raised by those 14 (1st + 2nd rounds) | $100.8 million |
| Startups with closed follow-on rounds | 6, worth $53.6 million combined |
| Capital raised via 7 recent Series A rounds | $73.7 million (~1/3 of all capital since 2022) |
| Seed-to-Series A timeline | 7 to 22 months |
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.
Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest, said, “2026 feels like an important point in the evolution of India’s semiconductor startup ecosystem. The design talent has been here for decades; what is changing is the capital stack around it. 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.”
Arjun Rao, Co-founder and General Partner, Speciale Invest, said, “The next generation of investible 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, analog 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.”
Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President & CEO, Startup Policy Forum, said, “At the Startup Policy Forum, it is a privilege to partner with Speciale Invest to deepen our shared commitment to India’s semiconductor ecosystem. We believe semiconductors represent one of the next big opportunities for India within the broader deeptech space. Through our Centre for DeepTech Policy Research, we look forward to working closely with founders and investors to identify policy pain points, resolve them, and ensure an active dialogue between all stakeholders.”
Another sign of the sector’s maturing is the pace at which some semiconductor companies are raising subsequent rounds. Multiple startups have moved from seed to Series A in seven to 22 months. Seven recent Series A rounds highlighted in the report total $73.7 million — roughly one-third of all semiconductor startup capital raised in India since 2022.
Strategic investors are also playing a larger role. Companies including Zoho and TDK Ventures have anchored funding rounds, while global semiconductor companies are increasingly moving beyond operating captive R&D centres in India to taking equity positions in Indian startups. The report notes that strategic capital brings more than money — including access to fabs, tool credits, reference customers and design partnerships.
The report identifies a broadening of India’s semiconductor startup base. 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.
Speciale Invest sees some of India’s biggest white spaces over the coming decade in equipment and materials, design IP and EDA, and analog and RF — areas where domestic demand exists but the startup ecosystem remains relatively underdeveloped. The India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 (ISM 2.0) could widen that opportunity further, particularly across fab-adjacent tooling, compound semiconductors, advanced packaging, RISC-V IP, AI-assisted EDA and verification tooling.
The report flags four indicators to track over the next 18 months: the pace of Series A and B capital, the emergence of India’s first $100 million-plus semiconductor product exits, volume orders from sovereign customers, and the commercial performance of India’s new packaging capacity.
