Is India powering the next generation of AI chips? What does it take to design high-compute, high-power semiconductors from scratch? Answering these questions, Srini Chinamilli from Tessolve predicts the future of chip design in India, to EFY’s Vidushi Saxena.
Q. What does Tessolve do, and how would you define its core strength?
A. Tessolve is the largest independent semiconductor engineering solutions company in the world. Our core strength lies in our robust engineering platform, which enables us to accelerate product development for our customers. We support the entire chip lifecycle from architecture and design to product engineering, evaluation, and testing, as well as building systems around the chip. Essentially, we provide a platform that enables customers to bring their semiconductor products to market more quickly and efficiently.
Q. Do you also have your own research and development (R&D) team?
A. We have what we call a centre of excellence (CoE). Currently, we are working on cutting-edge data centre AI chips using the most advanced process nodes. Many of these projects have come to us because of the R&D work we have done earlier, which helped us build deep expertise in advanced process nodes, whether it is chiplets or high-power, high-compute AI chips.
We invest early in the product lifecycle to ensure we have the expertise and readiness to take on such complex projects. Much of this work happens in India, complemented by a strong R&D team in Germany. Together, this combination enables us to handle advanced semiconductor projects successfully.
Q. What differentiates Tessolve from other semiconductor engineering service providers?
A. Tessolve is a semiconductor company, entirely focused on semiconductors from the CEO to the engineers. We are one of the few end-to-end providers, handling everything from chip architecture and design to testing, product engineering, and productisation. We have invested heavily in infrastructure, including advanced labs in India, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, and Germany.
Q. Who exactly are your target customers, and which industries are driving the most demand?
A. Our target customers are semiconductor companies designing and productising chips. Over 80 per cent of the top 20 semiconductor companies are our customers. On the system design side, we also serve non-semiconductor companies, such as Lufthansa Technik, Schneider, and Harman, which cover the industrial and automotive sectors.
Q. How has Hero Electronix influenced Tessolve’s growth and direction?
A. Hero Electronix has been part of our journey since 2016. They bring financial strength, which has allowed us to make bold investments, strengthen our lab infrastructure, and pursue acquisitions, such as the $50 million acquisition of DreamChip in Germany. Additionally, with TPG’s recent $150 million investment, we now have the capital to accelerate growth even further. Hero Electronix, along with TPG and other investors, provide both strategic guidance and financial support, helping us expand aggressively and make high-impact investments.
Q. What semiconductor trends are you closely watching?
A. The top trend we are closely following is AI. AI is driving the development of highly complex, high-performance chips with massive compute and memory requirements, which necessitate innovation across design, testing, and systems. Beyond AI, trends like car electrification, smarter vehicles, and industrial predictive analytics are also shaping demand, but AI remains the dominant driver.
Q. Do you have your own test and measurement team?
A. We do. Semiconductor testing was one of the first capabilities we established when we founded the company in 2004. We have advanced labs in India, and over time, we have expanded into chip design and systems design to provide the best value to our customers.
Q. Are you planning any new partnerships or acquisitions?
A. We are constantly forming partnerships as we grow, particularly with leading electronic design automation (EDA) companies, automated test equipment (ATE) providers, and intellectual property (IP) firms. We are also signing agreements with global suppliers, such as Advantest, and continuing discussions with other potential partners. Our goal is to provide value to our customers and partners, and to contribute to the growing semiconductor ecosystem in India actively.
Q. What challenges do you face in the Indian market?
A. Back in 2004, India had limited infrastructure and almost no talent in post-silicon engineering. Over the years, significant improvements have been made, but certain challenges persist. Talent is a key challenge today, particularly with the growing semiconductor industry in India. We address this through training programs for engineers and university faculty, helping scale the workforce to meet demand. Another challenge is the need for more risk capital to support advanced semiconductor development, which is critical for startups and future growth.
Q. Do you also invest in startups?
A. We have helped many startups, especially in Silicon Valley and Austin. Our investment often takes the form of engineering support, helping startups turn their product ideas into market-ready products. Startups typically have vision and architectural expertise but may lack the bandwidth for full-chip design. We are now expanding this support to startups in India, helping them accelerate product development and bring their ideas to market efficiently.
Q. Do you have partnerships with universities or academia to train engineers?
A. From day one, we needed to create talent because there was limited expertise in our field. We partner with over ten universities, primarily located in Tier 2 cities, to provide curriculum in chip design and testing. For example, we designed cost-effective training equipment that replicates high-end test systems and provide it to universities, training faculty who then train students. We also have a full-time training program at Tessolve to polish electronics graduates, making them industry-ready. This approach has helped us build a strong homegrown talent base, with 80 per cent of our engineers coming from India.
Q. Where do you see Tessolve in the next five to ten years?
A. Tessolve has ambitious plans to become the world’s leading semiconductor engineering solutions company. Our goal is to support end-to-end chip and product design. Anyone with a product idea can come to us; we can design the chip and the entire product around it.. We aim to triple in size over the next five years while continuing to operate internationally, with the majority of our workforce in India. We are proud to build a world-class company out of India and contribute to the country’s growing semiconductor ecosystem.
