Cognichip, a company advancing Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI) to power the future of semiconductor design, announced its launch out of stealth mode with $33 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Lux Capital and Mayfield, with support from FPV and Candou Ventures.
What Cognichip does: Cognichip is advancing the first physics-informed foundational model (PIFM) for semiconductors, designed to drastically advance development timelines, reduce costs, and enable the next wave of AI innovation.
The company was launched by experts from Amazon, Google, Apple, Synopsys, Aquantia, and KLA. And Cognichip is addressing two major challenges in semiconductor development: high cost and inaccessibility. Chip design now is time-consuming and expensive, often taking 3-5 years and over $100 million before reaching production.
The usual approaches, which depend on throwing more money, compute power, and people at the problem, are no longer sustainable. And this is especially concerning given the projected shortage of about a million skilled workers by 2030. Cognichip is advancing ACI to address these issues, making chip design faster, easier, and more accessible.
Artificial Chip Intelligence – ACI: Cognichip’s ACI introduces a physics-informed AI foundation model, purposely built for semiconductor design. And ACI fundamentally rethinks 40 years of traditional serial chip development with a modern AI-first, conversational design approach, leveraging large-scale, secure, accelerated compute infrastructures.
ACI enables engineering teams to work more efficiently and cost-effectively, elevating artificial intelligence as the new scaling factor for the semiconductor industry.
Some of the key benefits of ACI include:
1.) 50% faster design cycles – Reduces time from concept to production through concurrent local and global optimization
2.) 75% reduction in development costs – Dramatically reduces the effort and expertise required to develop and test chips
3.) Improved power, performance, and efficiency – Eliminates unnecessary bloating by bringing products closer to requirements and continuously optimizing for area and power
4.) Enhanced flexibility – Adapts easily to changes in market demands and product variations, minimizing costly redesigns
5.) Simplified scalability – Enables rapid creation of new product variants to meet market demands for flexible portfolio management
ACI also brings much-needed flexibility to the supply chain. Switching chip manufacturers or modifying production processes requires extensive redesign efforts. And Cognichip’s interoperable ACI solution eliminates this friction, enabling seamless scaling, reducing supply chain risks, and allowing companies to plan for future growth with greater agility.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our vision is to fundamentally reshape the economics of semiconductor design. As a founder who has successfully taken two semiconductor companies public, and as a venture capitalist, I have seen firsthand how semiconductor startups are often deemed ‘unfundable’ due to high costs and long timelines. With the rise of Generative AI, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how chips are designed. I founded Cognichip to disrupt the outdated chip design process and to make semiconductor innovation scalable, secure, and accessible to aspiring future pioneers of our industry. To tackle this massive task, we have assembled a pioneer-minded team stacked with AI scientists with world-class credentials, brilliant chip design veterans, and the best-of-breed enterprise software developers.”
Faraj Aalaei, CEO and Founder of Cognichip
“The semiconductor industry is at a critical inflection point, with traditional design methods becoming increasingly unsustainable amid escalating costs and a looming talent shortage. What excites us is how Cognichip is fundamentally transforming the economics and speed of semiconductor design through their Artificial Chip Intelligence. We are excited to partner with Faraj Aalaei and the Cognichip team as they democratize access to semiconductor innovation and build something truly revolutionary that will power tomorrow’s AI infrastructure.”
Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner at Mayfield
“Cognichip is introducing a new scaling factor for semiconductors: intelligence. By embedding AI deep into the physics of chip design, they are accelerating innovation in a way that traditional scaling could never achieve. We believe Cognichip’s approach will reshape the foundation of the semiconductor industry for decades to come.”
Shahin Farshchi, Partner at Lux Capital
“Collapsing the traditional barriers of chip design is not only a turning point for the semiconductor industry; it stands to benefit the entire global technology economy. Silicon Valley was put on the map because of the semi companies that were born here, and I’m thrilled to back a team of exceptional veterans reshaping yet again the future of semiconductor design by making advanced compute solutions more accessible to any player. Cognichip will accelerate breakthroughs across AI, energy, healthcare, and every industry where progress depends on smarter, cheaper, more efficient hardware.”
Pegah Ebrahimi Co-Founder and Managing Partner at FPV Ventures
