Startup Funding: November 2023


November was a banner month for quantum computing startups, with two raising rounds of $100 million for their superconducting and silicon spin qubit technology. Another significant round went to a company developing photonic-based systems. Several other companies drew funding, including one applying quantum sensors to semiconductor inspection. Sizeable funding also went to an autonomous tran... » read more

Startup Funding: August 2023


August startup funding continued to follow the trends that put AI and autonomous driving at the top of funding. One of August's largest rounds went to a company designing AI processor IP that can scale from the edge to the cloud. Plus, three battery manufacturers brought in one billion dollars or more. This report covers 37 companies that collectively raised $4.2 billion in August 2023. [... » read more

Startup Funding: February 2023


The cost of borrowing is going up, but investors continued to pour money into the chip industry in February. Collectively, 132 companies raised more than $4.5 billion last month. One of the big beneficiaries was quantum computing, with nine companies drawing a total of more than $500 million. The bulk of that went to a quantum software and services company spun out of Alphabet, but plenty wa... » read more

Startup Funding: March 2022


Semiconductor manufacturing, test, and inspection equipment startups did well in March. Investors funded a wide variety of equipment companies, including test equipment, materials handling, and those that make parts and components. In the manufacturing space, several companies developing manufacturing execution systems received funding, as well as a startup trying to prevent counterfeit parts f... » read more

Startup Funding: December 2021


Chinese startups dominated last month's fundraising, with companies from the country comprising about two-thirds of those covered in this report. In addition to the number of companies, startups from China also drew significant amounts of funding, with a display driver company and an EV battery maker each garnering around $1B and six more companies seeing rounds over $100M. Two particularly ... » read more

Startup Funding: October 2021


Semiconductor manufacturing and packaging companies caught the attention of investors last month, with funding going to a middle-end-of-line foundry, flexible electronics manufacturer, and fab management software. Two Israeli startups are approaching AI accelerators in very different ways, while battery startups propose a variety of new chemistries in the search for the ideal electric vehicle b... » read more

Startup Funding: June 2021


June was the month of mega-rounds for autonomous driving companies, with three pulling in well over $100M. All three are based in China, but their products range from chips to full robotaxi services. Also in the automotive space, an EV battery manufacturer raised over $2B, a solid-state lidar developer drew $300M — and those are just the largest rounds. Plus, new HPC architectures, GAA metrol... » read more

Startup Funding: May 2020


It was a good month for semiconductor startups, with investment spanning a larger company in later funding rounds to brand new seed funding for two chip manufacturing startups. Two AI hardware startups bridge data center and edge, plus EV companies around the world get funding. In total, the eighteen startups profiled this month raised $446.3 million. Semiconductor & design Shanghai-based ... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Silicon Labs worked with Norway’s Q-Free to create the ParQSense Smart Parking Sensor, which helps drivers find available outdoor parking spaces. ParQSense uses the chip company’s Wonder Gecko wireless microcontroller for connectivity and control. Having gone through pilot testing in the European Union and North America this year, ParQSense is being released for commerci... » read more