Press Release - 27th March 2025
ChipStart UK Cohort #2 Graduates, and Cohort #3 Unveiled, at the Royal Institution
Key points:
● ChipStart UK Cohort #2 graduated on 27 March 2025 at the Royal Institution, London
● First two ChipStart UK cohorts have collectively raised £45m+ in private investment
● Programme extended from 9 to 12 months for Cohort #3
Britain’s semiconductor founders gathered at the historic Royal Institution on 27 March 2025 as SiliconCatalyst.UK marked a dual milestone: graduating ChipStart UK Cohort #2 whilst unveiling the third cohort, which will benefit from an extended 12-month programme.
Sean Redmond, Managing Partner of SiliconCatalyst.UK, captured the occasion’s significance: “The ChipStart UK early-stage semiconductor incubator programme, funded by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology and delivered by SiliconCatalyst.UK, has been an outstanding success. The first two graduated cohorts of over 20 early-stage semiconductor startup companies have collectively raised over £45 million in private VC and Angel funding investment. VC’s are the professionals that pick winners. The fact that 9 of the 11 startups in the first Cohort have closed their seed investment rounds is a vote of confidence into the ChipStart incubator programme.
Central to this success is ChipStart’s comprehensive support structure. The programme provides zero-equity, fully funded access to EDA tools and product prototyping run through the Silicon Catalyst ecosystem, designed to de-risk first silicon and accelerate commercial traction.
Tudor Brown, Arm’s former president and co-founder, delivered unvarnished advice to the entrepreneurs from both cohorts during his keynote speech. He challenged the entrepreneurs to think beyond quick exits. “Don’t worry about your exit strategy, build for the long term”. He added: “It took seven years for Arm to get appreciable revenue. There’s no quick fix in this business”. His insights on business models, capital discipline and strategic hiring resonated with founders at every stage.
Programme alumni and industry leaders added practical perspectives. James Lewis, CEO of RED Semiconductor and ChipStart UK Cohort #1 graduate, detailed how the programme accelerated his company's development, whilst a panel chaired by Neil Parris of Arm brought together founders Steinn Gustaffson (Chevin Technology), Tanya Mangoma (HyperCIM), and Martin Macdonald (weeteq) to discuss the unique challenges of scaling UK semiconductor startups beyond seed funding.
The event showcased pitches from all the graduating Cohort #2 companies including Visionchip (edge AI vision processing), Metahelios (revolutionary camera sensors), PhovIR (photonics), Qontrol (quantum), and Chevin Technology, who delivered rapid-fire pitches demonstrating their progression from concept to commercial traction.
Looking ahead, the newly unveiled ChipStart UK Cohort #3 (comprising Chipletti, Ethicronics, Kelvin Quantum, Kahu SiliconBio, Prospectral, quadrAI, Quantopticon, Rayd Technologies, RxWatt, SiDesign Works, Smith Optical, Xen Quantum) now has a clear benchmark set by their predecessors.
As Cohort #3 prepares to embark on their own twelve-month incubation journey, ChipStart UK continues to demonstrate how the right combination of mentorship, resources and ecosystem access can transform Britain's semiconductor innovations into commercial successes.