Sequoia Capital India makes second chip investment in country

NEW DELHI: Sequoia Capital India on Friday announced its second semiconductor investment this year in InCore Semiconductors, which is building RISC-V processor cores in the country.

InCore Semiconductors raised $3 million in a seed-funding round from Sequoia Capital India announced during the IT Ministry’s ‘SemiCon India FutureDesign Roadshow’ led by Minister of State for IT and Electronics, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, at IIT Delhi. “Semiconductors are the tech building blocks and a key catalyst to India’s $1 trillion digital economy goal. This will require joint commitment and collaboration from all sets of stakeholders - be it startups, investors or the government,” said Chandrashekhar.

Earlier, Sequoia Capital India invested $2.32 million in Mindgrove, an IIT Madras incubated semiconductor startup designing innovative System on Chips (SoCs).

“We’re grateful to have an opportunity to contribute to India’s nascent semiconductor industry. In the last few months, the firm has partnered with two ambitious early-stage Indian semiconductor companies innovating in RISC-V and custom silicon. There’s a massive opportunity for deep tech start-ups,” said Mohit Bhatnagar, MD, Sequoia India.

GS Madhusudan, CEO and Co-founder, InCore Semiconductors, said that with its comprehensive suite of customisable RISC-V core-generators, core-hubs, and SoC platforms, “we are driving innovation and enabling companies to build cutting-edge semiconductor solutions”.