$12-15 million for Calligo’s RISC-V chip push

Calligo Technologies is seeking $12-15 million to scale its indigenous RISC-V chip business.

Calligo Technologies is in talks to raise $12 million to $15 million from new and existing investors, with U.S.-based BIG Capital expected to lead the round. The Bengaluru semiconductor startup is targeting a post-money valuation of $50 million to $55 million, according to people familiar with the talks, and the company last raised about $1.1 million in April 2025.

What changed

The deal would bring in fresh capital from a mix of new and existing backers, including Artha Venture Fund and SeaFund, while Azim Premji Invest is also in early-stage talks. Calligo, founded in 2012, builds fabless chips around indigenous RISC-V processors for AI, aerospace, and supercomputing workloads.

The startup says its Posit-based silicon uses a proprietary mathematical computing approach aimed at faster, energy-efficient data processing. That pitch is centered on two pain points in high-performance computing: handling large-scale simulations and supporting large-model training and inference in AI systems.

• Founded in 2012
• Fabless semiconductor startup
• Focus areas: AI, aerospace, supercomputing
• Planned use of funds: scale chip production, expand globally, hire engineers, build OEM partnerships

Why it matters

India’s semiconductor funding is picking up. Venture Intelligence data cited in the report shows private capital for Indian semiconductor startups reached $68 million in the first four months of 2026, up from $57 million in all of 2025. For chip startups, that suggests more room for early-stage bets on local design IP and niche compute hardware.

For developers and infrastructure buyers, Calligo’s pitch matters because it targets workloads that are expensive to run on general-purpose systems. If the company can commercialize its chips, it could offer an option for energy-sensitive AI and HPC deployments that need custom silicon rather than off-the-shelf processors.

The company’s team includes former AMD engineering director Anantha Kinnal and former Capillary Technologies technology head Rajaraman (Giri) Subramanian, with additional experience from Hewlett Packard and Tata Consultancy Services. The question now is whether the funding closes at the top end of the range and whether Calligo can convert technical differentiation into OEM deals.