The fresh capital will be used to build and test Morphing Machines' first chip, strengthen its product, and expand its team to over 90 members from 50 currently. Over time, the startup plans to enter global markets like the US and Europe.

Founded by Deepak Shapeti, Ranjani Narayan, and SK Nandy in 2006, Morphing Machines is a fabless semiconductor IP startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. It has developed a runtime reconfigurable many-core processor called 'REDEFINE', which offers configuration and compute flexibility for data centres, AI/ML workloads, telecom infrastructure, and next-gen enterprise compute applications.

The startup is supported by government initiatives like DLI (Design-Linked Incentive) and C2S (Chips2Startup).

Morphing Machines intends to begin customer demos of its many-core processor and secure early adoption in data centres. Over the next 12 to 24 months, it will focus on building its first proof-of-silicon chip, signing paid pilot projects, and enhancing its software toolchain.

Prior to this, the startup raised $2.7 Mn in a seed round last year from Speciale Invest, and others.

India's Semiconductor Push

Morphing Machines is among the homegrown semiconductor companies which are benefitting from the Centre's push to make India a semiconductor hub. The advent of AI has given a further impetus to the demand for semiconductor chips, and India's semiconductor market is expected to breach the $150 Bn mark by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 24% from 2023.

The Centre launched the INR 76,000 Cr Semicon India programme in 2021 to incentivise silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, and more.

In August, the Union cabinet cleared four new semiconductor projects with a total investment of INR 4,584 Cr under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). The new semiconductor units will come up in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.