The Indian semiconductor ecosystem is at an inflection point, with rapid activity in progress across almost all aspects of the value chain. Globally too, the semiconductor industry is buoyed by the growth in AI and AI infrastructure. As venture capital investors in India, we are excited about what this activity means for early-stage startups and how they grow and interface with a rapidly changing industry.

In this report, we dive into the factors propelling the sector forward - rising global demand, favourable geopolitical shifts, and strong policy backing through initiatives like the DLI, C2S, and PLI schemes.

Our goal is to offer investors, founders, and ecosystem enablers a realistic and hopeful view of how India is gearing up to lead in deeptech innovation. Over the past five years, we’ve seen more than $300M invested in Indian semicon startups, and the momentum is only building. We’ve observed a shift in founder profiles - from engineers returning from global design firms to professors productizing academic research - and it’s encouraging to see VCs becoming increasingly comfortable coming in early.

This report reflects not just data, but our experiences working closely with some of these incredible teams - teams that are creating real IP, solving hard tech problems, and building for global markets from Indian soil.To us, this isn’t just an emerging opportunity - it’s a defining moment. India is no longer just a service destination; we’re watching the rise of a product-first, IP-driven semiconductor ecosystem that’s still young but deeply promising.

This report was done in collaboration with Vishal Katariya of Ankur Capital was first presented at the Second Annual SemiX Summit at IIT-Bombay in November 2024