AGNIT Semiconductors Nets $3.5 Mn Led By 3one4 Capital

Bengaluru-based AGNIT Semiconductors has secured $3.5 Mn (INR 29.4 Cr) in a seed funding round co-led by 3one4 Capital and Zephyr Peacock.

The round also saw participation from existing investor and former chief executive at Cognizant, Lakshmi Narayanan.

Hareesh Chandrasekar, cofounder and chief executive of AGNIT Semiconductors, told Inc42 that the company’s first products being primarily targetted in the defence space, this funding will lay foundation to promote its chips into volume production in the defence market, which is expected to take place in the next one year.

“In addition to that, the company will also be developing prototypes for power conversion as well as telecom use cases, in a move to expand its application segment, as AGNIT Semiconductors looks to shift its focus to consumer-focussed use cases,” Chandrasekar added.

AGNIT Semiconductors said in a statement that it will deploy the fresh proceeds to scale up its production and expand commercial operations.

The company is also targeting to expand to the consumer electronics and electric two-wheeler markets, to deepen its focus on addressing fast-charging needs; with an aim to sell 100,000 chips this year.

AGNIT Semiconductors was established in 2019 by a team of industry professionals namely, Digbijoy Neelim Nath, Hareesh Chandrasekar, Madhusudan Atre, Mayank Shrivastava, Muralidharan Rangarajan, Shankar Kumar Selvaraja, and Srinivasan Raghavan.

The company specialises in Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology, focusing on design and production of GaN materials (wafers) and electronic components primarily tailored for radio-frequency applications.

The Bengaluru-based incubated startup is also planning to address the challenge of the extended gestation period for the semiconductor industry, where it takes about four years to commercialise a chip, said Chandrasekar.

He also said, through this fundraise, AGNIT Semiconductors will be able to invest into its volume production and conduct quality checks to make their chips reliable before it reaches consumers.

Furthermore, the chip maker claims it has raised $4.87 Mn (nearly INR 41 Cr) in total, so far.

This investment comes at a time when the Indian government is pulling out all stops to reduce the country’s reliance on imports and it is set to make its mark in the semiconductor space globally.

For instance, last month, fabless semiconductor startups such as FermionIC Design and BigEndian Semiconductors secured funding from various investors to boost their product expansion and reach overseas markets.

Based on a recent Inc42 survey, 92% of investors are optimistic about India’s semiconductor ambitions and are willing to invest, where about 63% of these investors said they are willing to fund intellectual property (IP)-focussed chip startups, and 58% are willing to fund semiconductor design services.

It is to note that the semiconductor sector is anticipated to become a $150 Bn market by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 24% from 2023 to 2030.