Indian semiconductor startups raised $92 million in the first five months of 2026 across 12 deals, nearly four times the funds raised in the entire 2025, boosted by government initiatives, rising investor interest and more firms getting into production.
According to data from Venture Intelligence, companies that raised funds in 2026 include Constelli, C2i Semiconductors, HrdWyr and VerveSemi, each raising upwards of $10 million. ET had earlier reported that Agrani Labs and Calligo Technologies were in talks to raise fresh funds.
Of the funds raised in the January-May period, $34 million were seed rounds across eight deals and the rest were Series A funding. Last year, semiconductor startups raised $25 million in six deals.
Startup founders and investors credit the government for playing a key part in triggering the increased activity in the sector.
DLI, AI boom
There is growing interest from Indian investors to back startups, C2i Semiconductors cofounder and chief executive Ram Anant said. There is also a big push from the government through design-linked incentive (DLI) scheme, which helps crowd in private and venture capital funds by absorbing early-stage risks.
The government has so far approved proposals from about two dozen companies under the DLI scheme, according to data from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Multiple DLI beneficiaries are raising or have raised funds from private venture capital firms. These include Mindgrove Technologies, VerveSemi, InCore, BigEndian Semiconductors, Calligo Technologies and MOSart Semi.
