When we last wrote about semiconductor startup investment in January, enthusiasm was running high and funding tallies were on the rise.
Checking in five months later, the space continues to sizzle from a startup funding standpoint, even though public markets have pulled back from the space in recent days. So far in 2026, investors have poured around $10.7 billion into seed through pre-IPO rounds for companies in Crunchbase’s semiconductor category. That puts funding on track to eclipse last year’s levels.
Noteworthy recent rounds
Beyond Cerebras, which went public last month after securing a $1 billion February pre-IPO round, a number of semiconductor-focused startups are raising considerable investor capital this year. Using Crunchbase data, we put together a list of the 10 largest venture funding recipients:
One of the three largest fundraisers after Cerebras is MatX, a developer of chips customized for the large model needs of AI labs. The Silicon Valley startup raised a $500 million Series B in February led by Jane Street and Situational Awareness.
Another moving up the ranks is Ayar Labs, which also secured $500 million in a March Series E financing led by Neuberger Berman.The San Jose, California-based company is an AI infrastructure startup focused on optics technology, with strategic backers including AMD Ventures and Nvidia.
Etched.ai, a startup working on chips for AI superintelligence, reportedly also secured $500 million in new funding early this year. Stripes led the financing, which was said to set a $5 billion valuation for the Silicon Valley-based company.
The Cerebras factor
For now, the market fate of AI chip and infrastructure developer Cerebras Systems weighs heavily over the semiconductor startup space.
The Silicon Valley company’s massive IPO last month raised over $5 billion and saw shares soar in first-day trading. Since then, 11-year-old Cerebras has been heading lower, with shares down about a third from the initial closing price.
Still, it’s far from a slacker. With a recent market cap around $50 billion, paired with rapidly rising revenues, Cerebras is finding plenty of investor support for its pitch that it is building “the fastest AI infrastructure in the world.”
High AI valuations and enthusiasm give sector a boost
Broadly, semiconductor startups are benefiting from the more widespread investor enthusiasm around the growth of AI and their continued support for the massive infrastructure outlays it requires.
That’s visible in the public markets as well, with semiconductor indices trading near all-time highs, a pullback in recent days notwithstanding. Chip designer Nvidia, meanwhile, remains the world’s most valuable public company.
The semiconductor industry is also young enough that most of today’s industry behemoths began as venture-backed startups. And given the rich history of innovative upstarts unseating leading players in this space, no one is doubting the chances of that storyline repeating.
Related Crunchbase queries:
