Silicon Catalyst Ventures launched to back early-stage semiconductor startups – DIGITIMES
Credit: DIGITIMES Asia
Silicon Catalyst Ventures (SCV) has launched as a newly formed Delaware Series LLC, aiming to invest between US$10 million and US$20 million in its first series this year.
The venture is focused on supporting early-stage entrepreneurial teams to develop transformative semiconductor-based innovations. SCV will fund companies primarily in North America, the UK, the EU, and Israel, and plans to invest in most early-stage companies admitted into the Silicon Catalyst incubator.
The SCV investment team offers extensive industry insight, covering investments, technologies, and diverse market segments within the semiconductor industry. “Semiconductors are vital to all aspects of our lives and businesses,” the company stated.
SCV aims to select and fund the most promising semiconductor startups in fields such as AI, communications, photonics, MEMS, sensors, IP, materials, and life sciences.
Leading the investment team is Founding Managing Director Dr. Shih-Wei Sun who once served as the CEO of United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). Having served as an advisor and investor for Silicon Catalyst and as a member of the Silicon Catalyst Angels Investment group, Sun emphasized the close association between SCV and the Silicon Catalyst incubator.
“This association affords investors unique access to startup teams whose technology and businesses are de-risked through a rigorous screening process and two-year incubation,” he said. “With our top-ranked semiconductor LPs, we bring additional ecosystems and supply-chain values to our startups,” Sun added.
Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner at Mayfield, expressed enthusiasm for the expanded reach of the Silicon Catalyst incubator program. “We partnered with Silicon Catalyst in 2022 and have been excited to watch them nurture entrepreneurs and bring silicon back to Silicon Valley,” Chaddha said.
“The venture fund announced today expands their ability to partner with global transformative semiconductor-based teams,” Chaddha added.
Pete Rodriguez, Managing Director of SCV and CEO of Silicon Catalyst, highlighted the ecosystem built over the past nine years. “Silicon Catalyst has built an investor ecosystem of over 300 VCs, Angels, Angel groups, CVCs, and Family Offices to fund our startups’ journeys,” Rodriguez said. “Silicon Catalyst Ventures is the next step forward, leveraging five years of Silicon Catalyst Angels and its 32% IRR. SCV has already deployed a couple of million dollars in eight Silicon Catalyst Portfolio companies.”
The initial SCV investments include: Applied Brain Research, EXOKĒRYX, Owl Autonomous Imaging, Q-Pixel, RAAAM, Salience Labs, Zepsor Technologies.