India's RISC-V startup InCore receives funding from Sequoia Capital

India-based RISC-V fabless chip startup InCore Semiconductors received funding from Sequoia Capital India, the second deal that the venture capital firm invested in India's semiconductor startup.

According to PTI and IANS, InCore Semiconductors raised US$3 million in a funding round from Sequoia Capital India, Speciale Invest, and Whiteboard Capital in the 'SemiCon India FutureDesign Roadshow' held by India's Ministry of IT.

ZaubaCorp's data shows that InCore Semiconductors was incorporated on May 11, 2018, and registered in Chennai with an authorized share capital of INR1 million (US$12,165). BusinessLine reported that InCore Semiconductors provides RISC-V-based turnkey processor IP solutions for automotive, industrial automation, and general electronics applications.

Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director at Sequoia India, said that the semiconductor industry is going through a cycle of disruption and change that will provide a strong tailwind for India's chip ambitions. They are grateful to have an opportunity to contribute to India's nascent semiconductor industry. InCore's deal is the second investment that Sequoia has made in India's semiconductor startup after Mindgrove, which is engaged in SoC designing.

With a talent pool of the world's semiconductor design engineers, India launched the Design-Linked Incentive scheme along with the INR760-billion (US$92 billion) semiconductor and display fabs incentive scheme to support the development of India's semiconductor ecosystem.

Besides, India is betting on RISC-V to play catchup in the global chip design industry. PTI in April quoted Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India's minister of state for Electronics and IT, saying that RISC-V is becoming a global movement with India as a leading player.

According to Bloomberg terminal, although venture capital funding has been cooling down in recent years amid global macroeconomic headwinds and Fed's tightening, investments in India's semiconductor has been rising for the past two years.

Source: Bloomberg, May 2023