indias-top-semiconductor-startups-of-2026

The coming decade will likely mark a significant phase in the development of India’s semiconductor industry. The country is pushing toward semiconductor self-sufficiency, gaining momentum through the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme launched under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). This initiative offers financial support covering up to 50% of eligible expenses, along with EDA tool subsidies and foundry services for fabless startups designing chips for AI, IoT, telecom, defense, and other sectors.

By January 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had approved 23 design projects and supported more than 70 firms with infrastructure, helping create a vibrant ecosystem. These companies reflect India’s growing effort to translate the “Make in India” initiative into practical semiconductor design capabilities, focusing on technologies ranging from AI to 5G. Most are headquartered in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, or Chennai, India’s major semiconductor design hubs, where homegrown designs are emerging despite intense global chip competition.

Many of these startups are betting on open-source RISC-V processors, 5G SoCs, edge AI, and energy-efficient PMICs. Their work is positioning India as an emerging design player that could one day rival Taiwan and Israel in semiconductor innovation.

In this article, we explore several DLI-backed startups, their innovations, and their achievements while highlighting their role in Atmanirbhar Bharat. The list reflects the diversity of the ecosystem, combining established players such as Saankhya Labs with newer entrants like C2i. Investments surpassed $28 million in 2024 alone, with projections targeting a $150 billion market by 2030.

Let’s take a closer look.

Saankhya Labs wireless SoC development

Saankhya Labs, founded in 2006 in Bengaluru, is one of India’s earliest fabless semiconductor companies. Supported by the DLI program, it develops SoCs for 5G NR, satellite communications (Satcom), direct-to-mobile (D2M) broadcast, and IoT applications. Its flagship products include multi-standard modems and baseband processors that integrate software-defined radio (SDR) technology. This allows flexible spectrum use without requiring hardware changes.

The company’s DLI approval focuses on advanced chips for 5G telecom infrastructure. These chips are expected to reduce reliance on imported components for BSNL and other telecom operators. Saankhya’s achievements include developing India’s first production-ready SDR chipsets, which are now used in set-top boxes and military radios.

The company has shipped millions of chips, secured defense contracts, and exported to more than 20 countries. In 2025, it expanded into LEO satellite modems, supporting ISRO’s vision for next-generation connectivity. With more than 100 employees and partnerships with companies such as Analog Devices, Saankhya illustrates how DLI support can help bring designs to market.

Aheesa Technology telecom and security processors

Aheesa Technology, based in Chennai, was founded in 2020 and focuses on SoCs for telecom, networking, and cybersecurity. With DLI backing for high-performance packet processors, the company emphasizes secure and low-latency chips designed for 5G edge routers and firewalls. Its architecture uses custom ASICs with hardware-accelerated encryption, making it well suited for India’s data localization requirements.

The company has achieved prototype tape-outs for 5G small cells and has received recognition from MeitY for its work on indigenous PHY layers. Aheesa also secured startup funding from Chennai Angels and collaborates with IIT Madras on RISC-V enhancements.

The firm expects to generate ₹500 crore in revenue by 2026 through volume manufacturing at TSMC. By bridging the gap between academia and industry, Aheesa is contributing to scalable 5G deployment in India.

3rdiTech CMOS image sensors for defense and automotive

Based in Delhi, 3rdiTech focuses on CMOS image sensors (CIS) for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), automotive ADAS, and defense applications. Its sensors, supported by DLI design tools, incorporate AI capabilities for drones, vehicle safety cameras, and security systems.

The company has signed agreements with DRDO and BEL to develop night-vision technology. It also holds five patents and achieved its first silicon milestone last year. With sensors priced roughly 40% lower than imported alternatives, the company is helping support India’s expanding drone and defense sectors.

Vervesemi Microelectronics analog and RF semiconductor design

Founded in 2017 with operations in Greater Noida and Bengaluru, Vervesemi focuses on data converters, RF transceivers, and analog IP for aerospace, EV, defense, and industrial applications.

With DLI support, the company is expanding its ASIC services and developing solutions that integrate AI-based self-healing capabilities for electric vehicles (EV) and aerospace systems.

Vervesemi has developed more than 110 inventions, produced 25 ready-to-deploy chips, and secured 10 patents. The company has also begun sampling space-grade sensors and EV motor controllers designed for significantly improved power efficiency.

Its technology supports projects such as ISRO’s Gaganyaan program and EV inverter systems, achieving power efficiency improvements of up to five times in certain applications. Its technologies are now being applied in areas ranging from space programs to EVs.

Netrasemi edge AI RISC-V processors

Based in Thiruvananthapuram, Netrasemi was founded in 2020. The company develops low power RISC-V SoCs such as the Netra E2000 for edge AI applications including CCTV, IoT devices, robotics, EV systems, and surveillance.

DLI support and startup grants help advance its RISC-V designs with parallel processing capabilities for AI workloads. The company says its platform can run more than 100 AI applications. It holds several patents and raised ₹107 crore in Series A funding in 2025. Its chips are already being tested in drones and manufacturing facilities in Kerala, with tape-outs produced on 28 nm process technology.

Fermionic Design configurable RISC-V processor cores

Based in Bengaluru and operating from the IIT Madras Research Park since 2018, Fermionic Design develops configurable RISC-V processor cores and system architectures for embedded systems.

Its FlexiCore platform includes customizable CPU cores, network-on-chip fabrics, and specialized accelerators. With support from DLI design tools, the company focuses on compact and energy-efficient processors for electronics and automotive systems. Fermionic has completed more than ten customer chip projects and has contributed to open source RISC-V ISA development. According to the company, its designs can reduce processor area by roughly 30% compared with some competing implementations.

Morphing Machines reconfigurable many-core processors

Based in Bengaluru, Morphing Machines develops the REDEFINE architecture, a reconfigurable many-core processor platform aimed at AI inference and high performance computing.

Its DLI project focuses on dynamic computing fabrics that can adapt their configuration at runtime to improve efficiency for data center workloads. Development milestones include FPGA prototypes and government funded research grants. The company also collaborates with NVIDIA on hybrid accelerator concepts that combine traditional GPUs with reconfigurable processing elements.

WiSig Networks 5G and wireless communication chips

Based in Hyderabad, WiSig Networks develops semiconductor solutions for 5G baseband processing, NB-IoT systems, and satellite communications.

With financial support from the DLI program, the company has been working on MIMO signal processing chips designed for telecom infrastructure. WiSig has also contributed to early silicon implementations of several 5G software layers and collaborates with telecom operators such as Jio. The company employs more than 50 PhD-level researchers and is seeking approximately ₹200 crore in additional funding in 2026.

Sensesemi Technologies low power SoCs for wearable devices

Founded in 2022 in Bengaluru, Sensesemi Technologies focuses on low power semiconductor solutions for wearable and medical IoT devices.

With support from the DLI program, the company is developing SoCs aimed at extending battery life in devices such as smartwatches and health monitoring systems. Early prototypes are currently being evaluated in trials associated with ICMR research programs. The company has also received seed funding from Blume Ventures.

GreenPMUsemi energy harvesting power management ICs

Based in Hyderabad, GreenPMUsemi develops power management ICs designed for battery-free IoT devices that harvest energy from solar and RF sources.

DLI support provided access to EDA tools used to design wide voltage power regulators for energy harvesting systems. The company has completed tape-outs on a 55 nm process for agricultural monitoring sensors and is collaborating with CropIn on smart farming deployments. Its technology focuses on enabling sensor systems that operate without conventional batteries.

Calligo Technologies AI acceleration processors

Calligo Technologies, also based in Hyderabad, develops processors designed for AI and machine learning workloads.

With DLI support, the company is developing domain specific architectures aimed at improving performance for large scale data processing. Its prototypes include tensor processing hardware concepts designed for cloud computing environments, and the company has explored collaborations with AWS on AI infrastructure platforms.

Innosilica VLSI design and IP development

Innosilica provides turnkey VLSI design services and semiconductor IP cores for automotive and telecom applications.

Through DLI support, the company has worked on hybrid processor platforms that combine ARM and RISC-V architectures. It has delivered more than ten tape-outs for Tier-1 OEM customers and focuses heavily on verification workflows and SoC design services.

Siplont Technologies high speed SerDes and mixed signal IP

Siplont Technologies specializes in analog and mixed signal semiconductor IP as well as SoC design services.

With DLI backing, the company is developing serializer-deserializer (SerDes) technology for data communication systems. Its work includes high speed links operating at up to 56 Gbps, and the company provides design IP used by international semiconductor firms.

Bitsilica embedded vision semiconductor design

Bitsilica focuses on ASIC design and FPGA prototyping for embedded vision systems.

DLI support has helped the company develop automotive grade semiconductor platforms used in advanced driver assistance systems. Its technologies are being evaluated for applications including EV platforms, and the company is also working toward future designs built on advanced semiconductor nodes.

Alpha ICT network processors and SDN chips

Alpha ICT develops network processors and compute SoCs for telecom infrastructure. With DLI financial support, the company is focusing on processors designed for software-defined networking switches.

Its technology has been deployed in parts of Airtel’s 5G core infrastructure. According to the company, the architecture can reduce network latency by roughly 50% in certain applications.

Oakter power management ICs for mobile and IoT

Based in Delhi, Oakter develops power management ICs designed for mobile devices and IoT systems.

Access to DLI-supported EDA tools has helped accelerate the company’s work on low power designs aimed at improving efficiency in battery-powered electronics.

AGNi graphics processing accelerators

Based in Bengaluru, AGNi develops GPU accelerators intended for gaming and AR and VR systems.

The company completed tape-outs of its first domestically designed graphics processors in 2025, marking an early step toward locally developed GPU technology.

InCore Semiconductors RISC-V processor IP

Based in Chennai, InCore Semiconductors develops RISC-V processor cores and semiconductor IP for embedded systems.

Incubated at IIT Madras, the company focuses on processor architectures aimed at secure IoT devices and embedded computing platforms.

Signoff Semiconductors chip verification and signoff services

Based in Hyderabad, Signoff Semiconductors specializes in chip signoff and design for test verification services.

The company works with semiconductor design teams to help complete verification and prepare chips for tape-out.

CentraLabs automotive semiconductor design

Based in Pune, CentraLabs focuses on semiconductor solutions for advanced driver assistance systems and EV control units.

The company collaborates with automotive manufacturers including Tata and Mahindra on controller and embedded chip development.

VASBM analog and mixed signal semiconductor IP

Based in Bengaluru, VASBM develops analog and mixed signal semiconductor IP used in sensor and audio applications.

Its technology supports both defense electronics and consumer devices.

RRP Electronics radar signal processing chips

Based in Hyderabad, RRP Electronics develops digital signal processing solutions for aerospace radar systems.

The company collaborates with ISRO on radar signal processing technologies used in space and aerospace applications.

BlueQuark quantum inspired semiconductor research

BlueQuark is developing semiconductor architectures inspired by quantum computing concepts aimed at solving optimization problems.

Early support through the DLI initiative has positioned the company to explore future computing architectures that may contribute to next generation wireless and high performance computing systems.