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The £1.3m programme is being delivered by Silicon Catalyst UK, and is part of the UK National Semiconductor Strategy.
“This is one of the most exciting times to start and grow a semiconductor company from the UK,” said SiliconCatalyst CEO Sean Redmond. “The first group of start-ups to enter ChipStart have been selected from 27 applications following two rounds of panel interviews made up of semiconductor start-up experts from the UK and Silicon Valley. Over the next nine months we will shape and mould these into the next generation of semiconductor leaders.”
Among the companies is Red Semiconductor (“RED”) a fabless semiconductor company creating microprocessors for AI and security applications. It is has developed core intellectual property and now needs to design cores and ICs.
It undisclosed MCU “uses a vectorised instruction set architecture (ISA) to deliver processing of the algorithms and mathematical functions used in AI, autonomy and cryptography”, according to Red. We will “gain access to bespoke chip design tools, commercial expertise, specialised mentorship and networking opportunities with prospective investors and partners”.
Two more AI-related companies are amongst the 12: Mignon and Vaire Computing, both of which design hardware intended to run large-scale AI models.
MintNeuro is another, which aims to make semiconductor-based neural implants that support patients with neurological conditions.
Of the 12, five are UK university spin-outs and two more are built on research from Oxford and Cambridge universities.
ChipStart will run two consecutive cohorts, and end in March 2025.
All get access to, and support for, design tools, intellectual property and prototyping capability as well as access to over 270 Silicon Catalyst advisors and exposure to private capital.
More on Red Semiconductor:
Red Semiconductor has a software technology partnership with Libre-SOC, a project that aims to create an open-source system-on-chip, which is supported by NLnet, Sorbonne University, Stitching Art & Technology, NGI Pointer and the EU’s Horizon 2020 research funding programme. Libre-SOC and Sorbonne are funded through NLnet, NGI0 PET Fund under an EU H2020 grant. Red Semiconductor is funded through NGI-Pointer under an differentEU H2020 grant.
