Silicon Catalyst
AcceleratorBrisbane · Pre-Seed–Series A · 49 people tracked
Investment thesis
Silicon Catalyst operates as an incubator and accelerator dedicated to the global semiconductor industry, giving startups access to industry veterans, semiconductor partners, advisors, EDA tools, IP, design services, prototyping pathways and commercialisation support. Through its Australian subsidiary and the ChipStart AU program in Queensland, backed by the Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund managed by Queensland Investment Corporation, it supports companies across semiconductors, quantum, photonics, advanced materials, Medtech and AI-enabled hardware. The program aims to reduce the cost and complexity of development while connecting founders with global customers, strategic partnerships and investors. Its worldwide ecosystem has reviewed more than 1,500 semiconductor startups and admitted over 150 into its programs.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 16, 2026.
Team · 49 people
from the firm's website & curated & public directories
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Founder mafia
2 people who came through Silicon Catalyst went on to found or lead other companies.
What they invest in
from 57 of 66 portfolio companiesDeep Tech ×44Hardware ×42Semiconductors ×40AI & Machine Learning ×27IoT ×12Cleantech ×6Energy ×6Biotech ×5
HQs:United States×21United Kingdom×3Switzerland×2Australia×1Canada×1Israel×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 30 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×162 founders×113 founders×3
Where their founders worked beforefrom 20 founders with career history
Duke University ×3Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) ×2Metacept Inc ×2Stanford University ×2
Portfolio companies · 66 tracked
alumni founders can tell you what the program is really likeBy year:2026 · 22025 · 42024 · 17 dated
Diamond Quanta develops the Adamantine Platform, an engineered-diamond interface technology for optical, thermal, semiconductor, photonic, and quantum systems.
Deep TechNew MaterialsQuantum ComputingSemiconductorsMountain View, US
Adam Khan(Founder & CEO)inMichael Pierantozzi(Co-Founder & COO)
ALPInc manufactures metrology tools for semiconductor characterization, enabling depth profiling of electrical properties in semiconductor materials and device structures at atomic-level resolution.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
AiNEKKO builds composable silicon for edge AI inference, working across RISC-V manycore compute, MRAM-based memory (iRAM), and an open software stack.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSemiconductorsSan Francisco, US
Tatiana Dadasheva(Executive Officer, Director)Roman Shaposhnik(Executive Officer)inTanya DadashevainDouglas Smith(Executive team (former Broadcom IP architect))in
BoardWensi Wu(Director)
Applied Brain Research develops on-device AI technology optimized for resource-constrained edge devices, enabling responsive and energy-efficient AI capabilities.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareWaterloo, CA
Co-investorsArchangel Network of FundsGarage CapitalRaptor GroupTwo Small Fish Ventures
Ayar Labs develops co-packaged optics (CPO) technology for AI infrastructure, enabling optical connectivity between thousands of GPUs across data center racks.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsSan Jose, US
Co-investorsNVIDIAAlumni VenturesBasecamp FundBerkeley FrontierBlue Bear VenturesCastor Ventures (an Alumni Ventures Fund)+16 more
Beam Shaping develops a phased array antenna that electromagnetically shapes and steers its beam to automatically scan and lock onto the strongest signal without moving parts.
Deep TechHardwareIoT
Black Sol Nano manufactures carbon metamaterial-based products for electromagnetic interference shielding and thermal management.
Deep TechHardwareNew Materials
Brain-CA Technologies develops an energy-efficient AI architecture based on Cellular Automata, designed to perform AI/ML tasks with lower power consumption and faster learning than existing systems.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsCincinnati, US
Steven A. Brunker(Executive Officer, Director)Gerard E. Felix(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardJonathan Phillips(Director)
Co-investorsFirst Trust Capital Partners
Cambridge Terahertz commercializes terahertz sensor technology based on MIT research, delivering compact on-chip radar systems that use non-ionizing radio waves to create 3D images analyzed by AI.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDefense TechHardwareCambridge, GB
Nathan Monroe(Executive Officer, Director)in
BoardCarolyne LaSala Holtorf(Director)Anand Dixit(Director)in
Co-investorsFelicis Venturesfutureland venturesGood Growth CapitalNeotribe VenturesSBXi
Chevin Technology develops configurable Ethernet IP cores for Intel and AMD Xilinx FPGAs, offering hardware-accelerated networking that runs entirely in logic without a CPU.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Cortisonic develops AI hardware based on reservoir computing using arrays of interconnected nanomechanical oscillators (phononic circuits) that process information through vibration and sound.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardware
CrossFire develops chiplet-to-chiplet interconnect technology for AI infrastructure, including Bridgelet interconnects, Direct Chiplet Input/Output (DCIO), and OmniDie integration that replace costly silicon interposers.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsSt. Paul, US
Kevin A. Atkinson(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
Dover Microsystems develops CoreGuard, silicon IP that integrates with RISC processor architectures to monitor executed instructions and block network-based cyberattacks, software vulnerabilities, and safety violations.
CybersecurityHardwareIoTSemiconductorsWaltham, US
Jonathan B. Rosenberg(Executive Officer, Director)Jothy Rosenberg(Founder & Executive Chairman)inJohn MacPhee(Executive Officer)inGreg Sullivan(Chief Scientist (former))in
BoardVivjan Myrto(Director)inKaigham Gabriel(Director)
Co-investorsDellin InvestmentsDuke Capital PartnersVU Venture PartnersHyperplane Venture Capital
Edgewater develops PrismIQ, an AI-powered Wi-Fi silicon chip that enables multiple concurrent wireless channels from a single access point to deliver higher capacity, lower latency, and improved reliability.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareIoTSemiconductorsKanata
ANDREW SKAFEL(Executive Officer, Director)inJIMMY JEON(Executive Officer)CHRIS OLNEY(Executive Officer)inHUBERT A.J. WHYTE(Director)
BoardBRIAN IMRIE(Director)RALPH GARCEA(Director)
Eridan develops wireless communication solutions for robotics and physical AI systems to enable their broader deployment and utility.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareIoTRoboticsSunnyvale, US
Co-investorsDiamond Edge VenturesEvolution VC PartnersMonta Vista CapitalPage One VenturesUnanimous CapitalSocial Capital Partnership+1 more
Espretech manufactures the NVL-MIMO 1.0 chipset, a secure communications processor designed for global terrestrial and aerospace applications including military command and control systems.
CybersecurityDeep TechDefense TechHardwareSemiconductors
Dr. John D. TerryErik VadersenDr. Anthony Reid
EXOKĒRYX develops semiconductor-based technology for isolation, characterization, and analysis of extracellular vesicles to enable earlier disease and cancer detection in research settings.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechMedical Devices
Bryan Rice(President and CTO)
Co-investorsCove Fund
Geegah develops ultrasonic imaging devices that use gigahertz-frequency piezoelectric transducers to capture high-resolution surface images of solid and liquid samples.
AgTechAI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Justin Kuo(Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer)Dr. Amit Lal(Co-Founder and Advisor)
Co-investorsBaker Hall CapitalFlorida Funders
HEPT Lab is a fabless semiconductor company that designs chips based on technology developed over a decade at Caltech.
Deep TechHardwareIoTSemiconductorsPasadena, US
Jmem Tek designs ASIC solutions, hardware security IP, and IC design services for quantum-resilient cybersecurity, including NIST-certified post-quantum cryptography and hardware-anchored identity authentication.
CybersecurityQuantum ComputingSemiconductors
John Chang(Founder)in
Co-investors500 GlobalMosaic Venture Lab
Lelanto is a technology company that applies domain expertise to solve problems with a focus on creating a safer, cleaner, and healthier world.
CleantechClimate TechDeep TechHardwareImpact & Social GoodIoTSemiconductors
Jose Bahamonde(Co-founder & CEO)Stylianos Siontas(Co-founder & COO)Ioannis (John) Kymissis(Co-founder & Advisor)
Lemurian Labs develops Tachyon, a software stack that runs AI workloads on any hardware and cloud while matching or exceeding the performance of hand-tuned kernels.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDeveloper Tools
Jay Dawani(Founder & CEO)in
Co-investors1Flourish CapitalBlackhorn Venturesfutureland venturesGood Growth CapitalMistral Venture PartnersOrigin Ventures+11 more
Mentium Technologies designs ultra-low-power, radiation-tolerant Edge AI co-processors and an accompanying SDK for size-, weight-, and power-constrained systems such as satellites, spacecraft, drones, robotics, bodycams, and security devices.
AI & Machine LearningSemiconductorsSpace TechSanta Barbara, US
Konstantin Likharev(Co-founder)Dimitri Strukov(Co-founder)Mirko Prezioso(CEO)Farnood Merrikh Bayat(CTO)Paul Daniel(CFO)
BoardJohn Bowers(Director)
Co-investorsExcellis Holding
MMtron designs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) with optimized performance across output power, linearity, efficiency, and bandwidth using advanced semiconductor technologies.
Deep TechEnterprise SoftwareHardwareSemiconductors
Mona Molaasgari(President and Chief Operating Officer (COO))Seyed Tabatabaei(Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO))in
Co-investorsBand of Angels
MoRF develops a silicon-compatible photonics platform using a proprietary III-V material stack that enables field-driven electro-optic modulation with high bandwidth and low energy use, integrated through standard CMOS silicon manufacturing.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Asaf Cohen(CEO & Founder)Maxim Varenik(CTO & Founder)
Neurophos develops photonic AI accelerator chips (the OPU) that use photonic tensor cores to deliver high compute throughput at low power draw, aiming to compress a full GPU rack into the size and power of a single GPU.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSemiconductorsAustin, US
Patrick Bowen(Executive Officer, Director)inAndrew Traverso(Founder)inHod Finkelstein(Executive Officer)inPreston Woo(Executive Officer)in
BoardChristopher Alliegro(Director)Nathan Kundtz(Director)
Co-investorsBeyond Earth VenturesBosch VenturesBuilder CapitalDnx VenturesDuke Capital PartnersGeometry+6 more
Niobium builds an encrypted cloud computing platform based on fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), keeping data encrypted while in use.
Cloud ComputingCybersecurityDeep TechDayton, US
Jorge Myszne(Executive Officer)Kevin Yoder(President & CEO)Matthew Farrell(Executive Officer)Georgios Dimou(Executive Officer)Lucas Duncan(Executive Officer)David Archer(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsFusionJobsOhio VenturesOhio Innovation FundMorgan Creek Capital
Oculi develops semiconductor-based AI vision processors that embed machine learning at the pixel level for real-time, energy-efficient edge AI.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareSemiconductors
CharbelPhilippe O. Pouliquen(Founding Member, Co-Inventor & Chief Scientist)Dr. Rizk(Chairman)Patrick(President & CEO)Fred(CPO)
Co-investorsTSVC
Co-investorsFounderFuel
Co-investorsOPAMP CAPITAL
Phinomics is a cancer drug discovery platform that captures extrachromosomal circular DNA (the "Circulome") at high resolution from matched tumor and normal patient samples, integrating it with DNA, RNA, epigenetics, and proteomics into a multi-omic knowledge graph.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep Tech
Massa Shoura(Founder, CEO, CSO)inStephen Levene(Founder, CTO)
Phosio develops UV-curable metal oxide precursors that enable low-temperature deposition for optical and electronic components used in smart glasses, semiconductors, and display technologies.
Advanced ManufacturingHardwareNew MaterialsSemiconductorsCorvallis, US
Omid Sadeghi(Chief Executive Officer)in
BoardBryn Pilney(Director)inAndrew Greenville(Director)Joe O'Keeffe(Director)
Co-investorsMESHTEL Venture Capital, Inc.Elevate CapitalSierra Ventures
Polyn develops neuromorphic front-end chips using its NASP technology to perform always-on processing of raw sensor data, enabling on-device edge AI products.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareSemiconductors
PowerDown Semiconductor develops low-power circuit technology that reduces dynamic switching power in computing systems, enabling higher performance without increased thermal output.
Deep TechEnergyHardwareSemiconductors
Probius develops Quantum Electrochemical Spectroscopy (QES), a label- and reagent-free electrochemical sensing technology that detects and quantifies thousands of analytes—proteins, metabolites, and cells—from microliter-scale biological samples in about 30 minutes.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechHardwareHealthtechSemiconductorsFremont, US
Chaitanya Gupta(Executive Officer, Director)inEmmanuel Quevy(Co-founder & CEO)in
Co-investorsCota CapitalHeuristic Capital PartnersSocial StartsTSVC
QPT develops technology to improve the efficiency of electric motors, which account for 45% of global electricity consumption and are a major contributor to carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning.
CleantechClimate TechDeep TechEnergyHardwareSemiconductors
Rob Gwynne(Founder & CTO)James Cannings(Executive Chairman & Acting CFO)Ian Stacey(COO)
Co-investorsAlumni Ventures
Quadric builds AI inference processors and software for edge deployment.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Co-investorsCota CapitalTrucks VCIFCInternational Finance CorporationLeawood Venture Capital Llc
Q-Pixel develops polychromatic RGB microLED technology, covering material growth, device fabrication, and display assembly, and operates as a fabless microLED display innovator.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
RAAAM is a semiconductor IP company founded by researchers specializing in VLSI design, developing and commercializing on-chip embedded memory technology for chipmakers building AI/ML and other memory-intensive applications.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareIoTSemiconductors
Co-investorsSerpentine VenturesIAG Capital PartnersLIFTT
RedSemiconductor develops processor technology for edge computing applications, targeting use cases such as low-power local AI inference, in-vehicle sensor fusion, high-bandwidth data communications, and energy efficiency optimization.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Rune Energy develops solar power systems using an integrated approach spanning PV arrays, DC power delivery, integration architecture, and software and controls.
CleantechEnergyHardwarePalo Alto, US
Varun Palivela(Founder)
Co-investorsLevel Ventures
Spin-out from the Universities of Oxford and Munster developing a novel semiconductor chip.
Vaysh Kewada(Founder)in
Co-investorsCambridge Innovation CapitalOxford Science EnterprisesPerivoli Innovations
SensTek Diagnostics develops a solid-state molecular testing platform that enables rapid bacterial, fungal, and viral diagnostics across clinical, agricultural, water, and food safety applications.
AgTechAI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechHealthtechMedical DevicesOakland, US
SigmaSense builds a semiconductor and software sensing platform that converts raw signals into high-precision, real-time data for applications including battery health monitoring (Onboard EIS), touch and touchless human interfaces, and industrial systems.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsAustin, US
Richard Seger(Executive Officer, Director)Edward R. Prince(Executive Officer)Stephen Sedaker(Executive Officer)Michael Shawn Gray(Executive Officer, Director)Dan Van Ostrand(Executive Officer)in
BoardLiting Cai(Director)
Co-investorsFoxconn Technology Group
Novel silicon carbide lateral power MOSFET technology for high-voltage, fast-switching power conversion, enabling simplified manufacturing and integrated power systems-on-chip.
Silvertech is commercialising a patented lateral silicon carbide (SiC) FET transistor technology aimed at improving power MOSFETs used for power conversion in applications like EVs, data centres, grid synchronisation, and inverters.
CleantechDeep TechEnergyHardwareQuantum ComputingSemiconductors
Dr Michael Harvey(CEO)Dr Richard Harris(CTO)
BoardDr Rowan Gilmore(Chairman)
Simplex Micro designs RISC-V microprocessor intellectual property, including scalable vector processors that range from 1 to 8-wide architectures.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsTustin, US
Dr. Thang Tran(Founder and Chief Technology Officer)
SPARK Microsystems develops ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless connectivity technology for applications including Physical AI, XR, audio, gaming, human interface, and IoT devices.
Deep TechHardwareIoTSemiconductors
Co-investors+ND CapitalCycle Capital
SpiNNcloud Systems builds neuromorphic, brain-inspired computing hardware based on its SpiNNaker2 Arm-based AI processors, aimed at running AI workloads at supercomputer scale with higher energy efficiency than GPUs.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSemiconductors
Co-investorsAtlanticBanyan VenturesSpinLab
Sweet Atoms produces biomass-derived carbon materials and advanced coatings for energy storage, environmental filtration, and biomedical applications.
Circular EconomyCleantechEnergyNew Materials
Synthara develops ComputeRAM, an embedded chip architecture that significantly improves energy efficiency and latency for AI inference on microcontrollers by leveraging in-memory computing.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsZurich, CH
Manu(Co-founder)Alessandro Aimar(Co-founder)
Co-investorsExcellis HoldingVsquared Ventures
Palo Alto, US
Dhinakarraj Gantala(Executive Officer)Ahmed Alkhateeb(Executive Officer)Jeyanandh Paramesh(Executive Officer, Director)Cormac Conroy(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardBruce Hallett(Director)
VeriQuantix presents itself as a data security company focused on protecting enterprise data against breaches.
CybersecurityEnterprise Software
Co-investorsUniSeed Pty Ltd.
VisIC Technologies develops Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductor devices for automotive and industrial applications, with a focus on high-reliability electric drive and power conversion solutions.
CleantechEnergyMobility & TransportationSemiconductorsVienna, IL
Tamara Baksht(CEO)in
Co-investorsKIA
WaveWorks develops radio-free wireless endpoints that stream data at very low power, aiming to reduce or eliminate batteries in devices like controllers and styluses and to replace cables with low-power wireless links.
Deep TechHardwareIoT
A company developing circuit-level AI solutions for power optimization, partnering with semiconductor companies and system integrators to accelerate market adoption of their Ultra Edge® technology.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsScotland, GB
Taner(Founder)SteveAli
WiConnectGlobal develops silicon-photonics and co-packaged optical solutions for data center and AI infrastructure, focusing on energy-efficient optical connectivity.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsColumbia, US
Xcelerium develops processors for real-time AI in autonomous physical systems such as robots, vehicles, and drones.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareSemiconductors
Zeno Semiconductor develops and licenses memory and logic technologies, including a 1-transistor Bi-SRAM cell and a Boosted Transistor, designed to be manufacturable on standard CMOS and FinFET processes without new materials.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Yuniarto Widjaja(Founder and CEO)Zvi Or-Bach(Executive Chairman)
Zepsor develops zero-power sensor technology that dramatically reduces battery consumption for IoT and sensing applications.
Deep TechHardwareIoTBoston, US
Matteo Rinaldi(Co-Founder & CEO)inZhenyun Qian(Co-Founder & CTO)
Co-investorsRaptor Group
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesQuadric · semiwiki.com · Jul 28, 2026
Phosio · intelligence360.news · Jun 19, 2026
SPARK Microsystems · finance.yahoo.com · May 14, 2026
Brain-CA Technologies · brain-ca.com · May 13, 2026
Neurophos · datacenterdynamics.com · May 7, 2026
Ayar Labs · reuters.com · Mar 3, 2026
Lemurian Labs · finsmes.com · Dec 4, 2025
TeraSpatial · nasdaqprivatemarket.com · Nov 20, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Silicon Catalyst made?
- Silicon Catalyst has 66 tracked investments, including 6 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Silicon Catalyst invest at?
- Silicon Catalyst invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What sectors does Silicon Catalyst focus on?
- Silicon Catalyst focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Consumer, Crypto & Web3, Deep Tech, Fintech, Hardware, Medical Devices, New Materials, Quantum Computing, SaaS, Semiconductors.
- Where is Silicon Catalyst located?
- Silicon Catalyst is headquartered in Brisbane, AU.
- Who does Silicon Catalyst co-invest with?
- Silicon Catalyst most often shares deals with Raptor Group, Sand Hill Angels, Good Growth Capital, among 86 tracked co-investors.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamSean Redmond, Silicon Catalyst On Launch Of MSCC In Malta
EE Times · Sean Redmond
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