What are the most valued startups in the semiconductor industry?

Last updated: 13 March 2026

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The semiconductor industry has become one of the most strategically important technology sectors in the world, with AI accelerators, photonic interconnects, and domestic chip manufacturing reshaping who holds competitive advantage.

This ranking covers 77 semiconductor startups and scale-ups, ordered by their latest reported or estimated valuation, from wafer-scale compute giants to edge AI chip designers.

We update this list every month to reflect new funding rounds, market cap changes, and acquisition activity, so the data stays as current as possible.

And if you want to better understand this new industry, you can download our pitch covering the semiconductor industry.

A quick summary table

Metric Value
Most valuable semiconductor startup Kioxia Holdings ($75.2B)
Second most valuable semiconductor startup Cambricon Technologies ($68B–$73B)
Median valuation across semiconductor startups ~$1.5B
Share of total valuation captured by the top 10 chip companies ~80%
Top semiconductor startup valuation vs. median ~50x
Median valuation-to-capital-raised ratio ~5.0x
Semiconductor startups valued at $1B+ 38
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Top startups in the semiconductor industry ranked by valuation

Here is an updated table that ranks the top startups in the semiconductor industry based on their latest reported or estimated valuations.

If you want more details about their fundraising activity, you can check our list of the startups who have raised the most funding in the semiconductor industry.

# Startup Name What They Do Current Valuation ($) Valuation Confidence Level Valuation Type Evidence Status Total Funding ($) Funding Confidence Level
1 Powerchip Semiconductor IC foundry and memory $65.0B–$130.0B Partial Confidence Public Market Cap Observed N/A N/A
2 Kioxia Holdings NAND memory and flash manufacturer $75.2B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed N/A N/A
3 Cambricon Technologies AI accelerator chips $68.0B–$73.0B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $569M Strong Confidence
4 Unisoc Mobile and IoT SoCs $60.0B–$80.0B Partial Confidence Active Raise Valuation Estimated $552M Partial Confidence
5 GlobalFoundries Global semiconductor foundry $68.0B Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $2.8B Partial Confidence
6 Moore Threads Chinese GPU and AI chips $39.3B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $2.4B Partial Confidence
7 MetaX Integrated Circuits Chinese AI GPU maker $31.0B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $894M Partial Confidence
8 GigaDevice Semiconductor Memory, MCU, sensor chips $28.0B–$29.0B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $1.4B Partial Confidence
9 Espressif Systems Wi-Fi and IoT chips $25.0B–$27.0B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $434M Strong Confidence
10 Hua Hong Semiconductor Specialty wafer foundry $24.0B Partial Confidence Public Market Cap Implied $3.3B Strong Confidence
11 Cerebras Systems Wafer-scale AI compute systems $22.0B–$24.0B Strong Confidence Announced Private Round Valuation Observed $2.8B Strong Confidence
12 ChangXin Memory Technologies DRAM memory chip maker $15.0B–$25.0B Partial Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $4.9B Strong Confidence
13 Tower Semiconductor Specialty analog semiconductor foundry $15.0B Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $56M Partial Confidence
14 Horizon Robotics ADAS and autonomous driving chips $14.5B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $3.1B Strong Confidence
15 Black Sesame Technologies Autonomous-driving compute chips $12.1B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $466M Partial Confidence
16 Yangtze Memory Technologies NAND flash memory maker $8.0B–$15.0B Partial Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $3.1B Strong Confidence
17 Biren Technology GPGPU chips for AI $9.8B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $2.1B Full Confidence
18 Iluvatar CoreX Cloud and AI GPU chips $8.4B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $1.1B Partial Confidence
19 Vanguard International Semiconductor Foundry services $6.9B Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed N/A N/A
20 Ampere Computing Arm server CPUs $6.5B Full Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $340M Partial Confidence
21 Astera Labs AI data-center connectivity chips $5.0B–$7.0B Partial Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $860M Strong Confidence
22 MatX AI training chips $4.2B–$5.8B Strong Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Implied $605M Strong Confidence
23 Lightmatter Photonic AI interconnect and compute $4.6B–$5.2B Strong Confidence Announced Private Round Valuation Estimated $822M Strong Confidence
24 Ayar Labs Optical interconnects for AI chips $3.7B–$3.8B Strong Confidence Announced Private Round Valuation Observed $872M Strong Confidence
25 Celestial AI Optical interconnect for AI $3.3B Full Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $589M Partial Confidence
26 Tenstorrent RISC-V AI compute hardware $2.8B–$3.2B Partial Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Implied $1.2B Partial Confidence
27 Montage Technology Interconnect and server chips $2.9B Partial Confidence Public Market Cap Estimated $1.4B Strong Confidence
28 OmniVision Technologies CMOS image sensor chips $2.2B Strong Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $658M Partial Confidence
29 Ambarella Edge AI vision SoC maker $2.1B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $130M Strong Confidence
30 Rivos RISC-V server and AI chips $1.8B–$2.2B Partial Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $370M Partial Confidence
31 Nexchip Semiconductor Display-driver wafer foundry $2.0B Low Confidence Public Market Cap Estimated $1.8B Strong Confidence
32 X-FAB Silicon Foundries Analog mixed-signal specialty foundry $1.0B–$3.0B Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $266M Strong Confidence
33 Annapurna Labs AWS server and networking chips $1.0B–$3.0B Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $20M Low Confidence
34 Tachyum Universal AI/HPC processors $1.5B–$2.3B Partial Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Implied $245M Partial Confidence
35 Navitas Semiconductor GaN and SiC power chips $1.9B Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $470M Strong Confidence
36 Rebellions AI inference chip designer $1.4B Partial Confidence Announced Private Round Valuation Observed $452M Strong Confidence
37 Telink Semiconductor IoT wireless SoC designer $1.4B Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $211M Partial Confidence
38 Groq AI inference chips and cloud $1.0B–$1.5B Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $1.9B Strong Confidence
39 Beken Corporation Wireless connectivity IoT chips $1.2B Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $93M Partial Confidence
40 Innovium Ethernet switch chips $1.1B Strong Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $335M Partial Confidence
41 Kneron Edge AI chips and software $900M–$1.1B Partial Confidence Active Raise Valuation Implied $150M Strong Confidence
42 Allwinner Technology Application processors and SoCs $1.0B Partial Confidence Public Market Cap Estimated $73M Partial Confidence
43 Rockchip Electronics Multimedia and SoC processors $800M–$1.2B Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $58M Partial Confidence
44 eSilicon Custom ASIC and packaging services $500M–$1.5B Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $113M Partial Confidence
45 Upscale AI AI networking infrastructure chips $1.0B Strong Confidence Announced Private Round Valuation Observed $300M Full Confidence
46 indie Semiconductor Automotive mixed-signal chip designer $540M–$940M Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $403M Strong Confidence
47 Cornami Encrypted AI accelerator chips $600M–$800M Partial Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $99M Partial Confidence
48 Loongson Technology Domestic CPU designer $500M–$800M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $367M Partial Confidence
49 Ambiq Micro Ultra-low-power edge AI chips $550M Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $583M Full Confidence
50 Hejian Technology Semiconductor foundry $300M–$800M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated N/A N/A
51 FuriosaAI AI inference accelerator chips $300M–$700M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $205M Partial Confidence
52 Graphcore IPU chips for AI $400M–$600M Low Confidence Acquisition Value Implied $710M Full Confidence
53 Mythic Analog AI inference chips $300M–$600M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $303M Partial Confidence
54 SemiDrive Technology Automotive-grade processor chips $300M–$600M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $404M Strong Confidence
55 Aquantia Ethernet PHY and connectivity chips $450M Strong Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $243M Partial Confidence
56 Hailo Edge AI processors $250M–$500M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $340M Strong Confidence
57 StarFive Technology RISC-V CPU and IP designer $250M–$500M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $146M Partial Confidence
58 Icera Cellular baseband modem chips $367M Full Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $188M Partial Confidence
59 Positron AI Inference-optimized AI semiconductors $300M–$430M Strong Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Implied $75M Strong Confidence
60 Kinara Edge AI inference processors $307M Full Confidence Acquisition Value Observed $54M Strong Confidence
61 SiMa.ai Physical AI edge platform $200M–$400M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $355M Strong Confidence
62 Phytium Technology Domestic high-performance CPUs $200M–$400M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated N/A N/A
63 EFFECT Photonics Coherent optical interconnect chips $250M–$350M Partial Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Estimated $183M Strong Confidence
64 Canaan Bitcoin-mining and ASIC chips $280M Full Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $460M Partial Confidence
65 Blaize Edge AI computing platform $200M–$350M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $237M Partial Confidence
66 d-Matrix AI inference compute chips $150M–$300M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $450M Strong Confidence
67 Retym Coherent DSPs for AI links $150M–$300M Partial Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Implied $180M Partial Confidence
68 Axelera AI Edge AI accelerator chips $150M–$250M Low Confidence Implied Valuation from Raise Estimated $368M Strong Confidence
69 Valens Semiconductor High-speed connectivity semiconductors $150M–$180M Strong Confidence Public Market Cap Observed $259M Strong Confidence
70 Atmosic Technologies Ultra-low-power wireless IoT chips $120M–$200M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $162M Full Confidence
71 Alif Semiconductor Edge AI microcontrollers $100M–$180M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $72M Strong Confidence
72 Achronix Semiconductor FPGA and eFPGA solutions $90M–$150M Low Confidence Comparables-Based Estimate Estimated $132M Strong Confidence
73 Flex Logix Embedded FPGA and AI IP $80M–$140M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $60M Low Confidence
74 EnCharge AI Analog in-memory AI chips $50M–$150M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $144M Full Confidence
75 Rain AI Neuromorphic AI chip startup $20M–$40M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $25M Low Confidence
76 Esperanto Technologies RISC-V AI and HPC chips $5M–$15M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $63M Low Confidence
77 Untether AI At-memory AI inference chips $0M–$5M Low Confidence Proxy-Based Estimate Estimated $152M Low Confidence
chart market size 2026 semiconductor industry

In our semiconductor industry deck, we provide the data and the context to understand it

Key valuation trends in the semiconductor industry

Insights

  • Cambricon Technologies achieved roughly a 124x valuation-to-funding ratio, with its $70B midpoint market cap built on just $569M raised, making it the most capital-efficient AI chip company in this entire dataset.
  • Espressif Systems converted $434M in total funding into a $26B public market cap, a roughly 60x return that shows IoT chip makers can generate value comparable to dedicated AI chip companies.
  • Lightmatter and Ayar Labs together carry a combined midpoint valuation near $8.7B on $1.7B in total funding, establishing photonic interconnect as a distinct multi-billion-dollar category within the semiconductor industry.
  • Biren Technology ($9.8B on $2.1B raised, 4.7x) and Horizon Robotics ($14.5B on $3.1B raised, 4.7x) share an identical valuation multiple, suggesting public markets apply a consistent pricing band to recently listed Chinese chip companies.
  • Kinara was acquired for $307M after raising only $54M, a 5.7x return on invested capital that shows edge AI inference chips can produce solid exits without requiring large funding rounds.
  • Navitas Semiconductor, the only power semiconductor company in the top 35 by valuation, sits at a 4.0x valuation-to-funding multiple, noticeably below the 5.0x median, suggesting AI demand has not yet broadly re-rated GaN and SiC chip valuations to match compute-focused peers.
  • Among the 16 semiconductor startups with strong data on both valuation and funding, the median valuation-to-funding multiple sits at approximately 5.0x, a useful baseline for investors evaluating new chip opportunities.
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A few words about our methodology

As you can see, we built a database that ranks startups in the semiconductor industry based on their current valuation.

Estimating semiconductor startup valuations is not always straightforward. Many chip companies do not publicly disclose their valuation, and the available information can vary widely depending on the company and its stage.

To build this ranking, we applied a structured valuation methodology and cross-checked information across multiple reliable sources.

Whenever possible, we relied on direct disclosures. These include announced valuations from completed funding rounds, public filings for listed semiconductor companies, or official acquisition prices.

When a semiconductor startup is publicly listed, we use its current market capitalization as the reference valuation.

If a chip company was acquired and no independent valuation can reasonably be estimated today, we use the acquisition price as the main reference point.

When a semiconductor startup recently raised capital but the valuation was not disclosed, we estimate the implied valuation using typical dilution levels for that stage of fundraising.

In some cases, we also estimate valuations using operating metrics such as revenue, ARR, or customer traction, combined with valuation multiples from comparable semiconductor companies in the same segment.

When direct financial data is not available, we may rely on carefully selected comparable chip companies and other signals such as hiring growth, investor quality, or product traction.

All estimates follow a strict evidence hierarchy. Recent funding rounds with announced valuations carry the most weight, followed by strong operating metrics and comparable company analysis.

We also carefully evaluate the age of every data point. Recent information carries more weight, while older data is treated cautiously and adjusted conservatively when necessary.

Whenever information is uncertain or incomplete, we clearly distinguish between confirmed facts and reasonable inferences.

Because valuation data is not always fully public, each semiconductor startup in the ranking is assigned a confidence level based on the reliability, recency, and consistency of the available evidence.

Full confidence means the valuation is supported by strong and recent evidence. Strong confidence means the estimate is well supported but includes minor inference. Partial confidence means the estimate relies more heavily on indirect signals. Low confidence means available information is limited or inconsistent.

When confidence is lower, we take a more conservative approach by widening the valuation range. This helps reflect the uncertainty and increases the probability that the true valuation falls within the estimated range.

This reflects how we conduct all our research, including the work behind our report covering the semiconductor industry.

In a world where LLMs hallucinate and unreliable information is everywhere, our goal is simple: provide data you can trust.

If you want the full detail on a specific semiconductor valuation estimate, feel free to contact us and we will gladly explain.

Finally, know that we update the dataset once per month, so come back here if you need fresh information.

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