BigEndian Semiconductors, a Bengaluru-based fabless semiconductor startup, has raised $6 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund. The round also saw participation from existing investors Vertex Ventures SEA and India, IvyCap Ventures, along with strategic angel investors.
The company had earlier raised $3 million in a seed funding round from Vertex Ventures in August 2024.
The fresh capital will be used to commercialise its first system-on-chip (SoC), scale product engineering efforts, and strengthen partnerships across foundries, IP ecosystems, and OEMs.
Founded in March 2024 by Sunil Kumar, Renuka Prasad, Dinesh Annayya, Kanagaraju Ponnusamy, and Jansen Cheng, BigEndian Semiconductors is building secure and high-performance semiconductor solutions designed in India for global markets.
The startup focuses on developing silicon platforms for sectors such as surveillance, telecom, IoT, and enterprise systems. It combines hardware and software capabilities, drawing on expertise in VLSI design, system architecture, and embedded software to build integrated solutions.
BigEndian is working on creating trusted silicon platforms that can serve both national security and commercial applications. However, building fabless semiconductor businesses requires long-term capital, deep technical expertise, and the ability to manage early-stage risks-areas where India’s ecosystem is still developing.
As global supply chains continue to diversify, the company is navigating complex processes such as chip design, verification, and tape-out, while also building its own silicon intellectual property.
With strategic partnerships across Taiwan and India, BigEndian aims to support end-to-end semiconductor innovation, from architecture and design to tape-out and final product launch.
The startup operates in a competitive space alongside players such as Netrasemi, Larsen & Toubro, Mindgrove, and Novatek.
With this funding, BigEndian is looking to strengthen its position in the growing semiconductor ecosystem and contribute to India’s push for self-reliance in chip design and manufacturing.
-By Shivani Solanki
