Sector Snapshot: US Semiconductor Startup Funding Hits Record High

It’s not a shocker to see that U.S. semiconductor startup funding charted record highs in 2025.

After all, that is the year Nvidia cemented its status as the most valuable technology company, with a staggering $4.6 trillion market cap. Public valuations of semiconductor companies also hit a historical peak, with sector-focused funds like the VanEck Semiconductor ETF soaring to all-time highs.

The broad trend: These gains coincided, of course, with record investment to AI companies hungry for faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient processing power. And startups offering an edge in this arena were juicy targets for acquirers, as evidenced by Nvidia’s recent deal to acquire assets of AI inference chip developer Groq in a transaction reportedly valued at $20 billion.

All this is to say that, while U.S. semiconductor startup funding is higher than ever, tallies actually look somewhat modest considering how much investors are valuing top innovators in the space.

The numbers: How modest? Across stages, U.S. semiconductor-related startup equity funding totaled $6.2 billion in 2025, per Crunchbase data. That’s a gain of 85% year over year, and also the highest annual tally on record.

For perspective, we charted total investment and deal counts for the past six calendar years below.

Globally, semiconductor startup investment was also up year over year in 2025, totaling around $12.2 billion. That’s up incrementally from 2024, but not a record high.

For both global and U.S. charts, the number of reported semiconductor funding rounds rose year over year, but remained below peak levels.

We’re not arguing that these are small investment tallies. However, in comparison to how much money is sloshing around in the industry, it does look comparatively paltry. The $20 billion deal for Groq, for instance, is one of the largest M&A-like transactions in startup history. Yet the cost represents just 0.4% of Nvidia’s valuation.

Noteworthy rounds

Meanwhile, among semiconductor venture investors, capital was highly concentrated, indicating belief that a handful of winners will drive returns. The three largest rounds accounted for nearly half of U.S. startup funding. All were later-stage financings for already well-known unicorns.

AI chip company Cerebras Systems was the largest fundraiser, locking up $1.1 billion in a September Series G. Shortly afterward, the Silicon Valley company formally withdrew plans for an IPO. While Cerebras is reportedly planning to file again for a public offering, it should be enough cash to continue scaling for the foreseeable future.

PsiQuantum, a quantum computing company that is developing a quantum photonic chipset, was another investor favorite. The 10-year-old, Palo Alto, California-based company secured $1 billion in a September Series E, bringing total funding to date to at least $2.3 billion, per Crunchbase data.

Groq landed the third-largest round — a $750 million Series E, also in September. That one was a quick turnaround for investors, who will see an enviable return from Nvidia.

For a bigger-picture view, below we put together a list of the 10 largest semiconductor-related funding round recipients of 2025.

Exits and more

Venture investors also tallied up large exits on semiconductor-related investments. And it wasn’t just Groq driving the gains.

In March, SoftBank announced a deal to acquire silicon design company Ampere Computing in a cash transaction valued at $6.5 billion. In another multibillion-dollar outcome, data infrastructure provider Marvell Technology announced in December that it is buying Celestial AI, a developer of optical interconnect technology for AI computing systems, in a $3.25 billion deal.

Also in December, Qualcomm picked up Ventana Micro Systems, a developer of performance CPUs, for an undisclosed sum. And on the acquihire front, AMD this summer brought on board the team of Untether AI, a startup that developed AI inference chips. Untether AI shut down afterward.

IPOs ahead?

Given the ultra-deep pockets of prospective acquirers, the urgency to meet demand amid fast-paced AI build-outs, and the penalties for too late or unsuited for the technology needs of today’s largest customers, it seems reasonable to expect deal and exit pace to keep up or even rise in coming quarters.

Who knows? In 2026, we may even see the semiconductor space deliver some significant IPOs.