Aheesa VIHAAN chip first-pass silicon success
Analysis based on 11 articles · First reported Aug 15, 2026 · Last updated Aug 15, 2026
The successful first-pass silicon of an indigenous broadband SoC strengthens India's semiconductor design capabilities, potentially boosting investor confidence in domestic chip startups and the broader electronics sector. Government support through DLI and Semicon 2.0 is expected to accelerate growth in the semiconductor ecosystem, attracting further venture capital and positioning India as a competitive player in chip design.
Chennai-based fabless semiconductor startup Aheesa Digital Innovations, backed by India's Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, achieved first-pass silicon success for its 'VIHAAN' broadband networking System-on-Chip (SoC) built using the VEGA microprocessor. The chip, designed for fibre broadband applications, was taped out on Republic Day and achieved first-pass silicon success on Independence Day 2026. It will now proceed towards production tape-out, targeted for 2027. Aheesa raised about Rs 40 crore earlier this year from the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation (TNIFMC) through the Tamil Nadu Emerging Sector Seed Fund (TNESSF) and other private investors to accelerate product development. The milestone highlights India's expanding semiconductor design ecosystem, with DLI-supported companies cumulatively achieving over 30 chip design tape-outs and raising over USD 100 million in venture capital. The India — Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology highlighted other successes, including Goke Microelectronics' BLDC motor controller, NetraSemi's 12nm Vision SoC, and OptoML's 12nm compute-in-memory SoC. The government also approved the Semicon 2.0 scheme in July 2026 with an outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore to build a globally competitive semiconductor ecosystem.
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