From Idea to Silicon: Semiconductor Startup Dinner 2026

Overview

India's semiconductor startup ecosystem has no shortage of talent, capital or ideas. The missing link is access to the ecosystem — the architecture, foundry and engineering partners who move a founder's vision forward.

We hosted our Semiconductor Startup Dinner on June 25 in Bengaluru with Arm and Samsung Foundry, bringing together 30+ semiconductor founders, architects and industry leaders building at the edge of custom silicon.

The evening was built around one question:

What does it take to move from idea to production silicon and accelerate semiconductor innovation?

Discussions focused on the industry's biggest challenges — from reducing risk and driving capital efficiency to tape-out readiness, packaging realities and qualification requirements.

Exclusive Walkthrough: Advanced Semiconductor Lab, Bengaluru

Founders received a private tour of HCLTech’s 40,000 sq. ft. Advanced Semiconductor Lab, which brings the post-silicon workflow together — from working prototype to production-ready silicon. The visit showcased electrical validation, ATE testing, AEC-Q100 and JEDEC JESD22 qualification, failure analysis, in-house surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly and next-generation cooling technologies for AI and high-performance computing.

Capability highlights:

Class 1K and 10K cleanrooms, with 24/7 secure VPN access
Full reliability suite, including HTOL, HAST, ESD, temperature cycling and latch-up
Advanced failure analysis, including SEM, FIB circuit edit, 3D X-ray, Micro CT, CSAM and wafer micro-probing
In-house SMT line with vacuum reflow, 3D inspection and flying probe
ISO/IEC 17025 accredition

Learn more

Highlights

The evening featured a curated line-up of sessions where founders, industry leaders and HCLTech's ecosystem partners shared frank perspectives on what it takes to build production-ready silicon — from architecture and foundry access to the realities of execution.

Across the evening, conversations reflected a shared commitment to move faster, de-risk earlier and build the ecosystem India's semiconductor startups need.

Powering Intelligence From the Core

Ramanuja V, Global Delivery Head, Semiconductor Business, HCLTech, outlined how three decades of engineering depth and 230+ tape-outs help close the gap between design and production silicon for India's fabless startups.

From Architecture to Silicon

Nazir Shahul, Regional Sales Manager, Arm India and Middle East, explained how Arm’s architectures provide founders with a strong design foundation that helps reduce execution risk from the start.

From Design to Wafer

Lakshmi Narayana Kethamreddy, Senior Vice President and Head of Design Platform Engineering, Samsung Foundry, discussed what it takes to take designs closer to volume production and how this pathway is becoming more accessible to Indian startups.

Founders' Fireside

Founders building custom silicon — from AI accelerators to battery-management chips — shared candid, experience-based perspectives on navigating tape-out, packaging and scale, including what the journey demands and what they would do differently.

The Investor's Perspective

Arjun Rao, General Partner, Speciale Invest, shared an investor’s perspective on backing India’s silicon builders, including the capital efficiency investors prioritize.