The Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has unveiled its support for two additional semiconductor design startups/micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the SemiconIndia futureDESIGN DLI scheme. This announcement came at the 2nd edition of the SemiconIndia 2023 conference, held in Gandhinagar.

The startups/MSMEs now under the umbrella of the DLI scheme include Aheesa Digital Innovations and Calligo Technologies. Chennai-based Aheesa Digital Innovations, a fabless semiconductor startup focusing on Telecom, Networking, and Cyber Security domains, plans to develop Aheesa Vihaan series of Networking System-on-Chip (SoCs) that are entirely designed and developed in India. Its first version, based on C-DAC’s VEGA Processor Core built on RISC-V architecture, sets to revolutionize the Indian Network and Telecom product manufacturers.

In Bengaluru, Calligo Technologies, another fabless semiconductor startup, primarily focuses on improving computing performance using Software and Hardware Acceleration techniques for high-performance computing (HPC), Big Data, and AI/ML segments. Their new accelerator product uses a novel number system – POSITs – which could potentially redefine computing standards. CalligoTech’s innovation merges a multi-core RISC V Processor with this co-processor, creating a highly power-efficient and computationally more accurate CPU – TUNGA Silicon.

The DLI scheme, implemented by C-DAC, intends to provide financial incentives and design infrastructure support for the development and deployment of semiconductor designs, such as Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, and System on Chips (SoCs) over a five-year period. Through this announcement, a total of seven startups under the DLI Scheme are now set to work on chip and IP cores for automotive, mobility, and computing sectors.

  Aheesa Digital Innovations, Bengaluru, Calligo Technologies, Chennai, digital innovation, Gandhinagar, India, MeitY, SemiconIndia 2023, SemiconIndia futureDESIGN DLI scheme