Fabless semiconductor IP startup Morphing Machines raises Rs 38 crore to build and test its first chip

Morphing Machines, a Bengaluru-based fabless semiconductor IP startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has raised Rs 38.36 crore in a Series A funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund, with participation from Speciale Invest, IvyCap Ventures, and Navam Capital. 

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Existing investors from the Seed round include Speciale Invest, IvyCap Ventures, Navam Capital, Golden Sparrow Ventures, IIMA Ventures, and DeVC.

Founded by Deepak Shapeti (CEO), Dr. Ranjani Narayan (CTO), and Prof. S. K. Nandy (Chief Scientific Advisor), Morphing Machines is developing REDEFINE, which it claims is the world’s most dynamic and flexible processor, designed for demanding compute environments — starting with data centers and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Unlike fixed ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) or power-hungry FPGAs, REDEFINE aims to deliver ASIC-like performance with FPGA-like flexibility. Backed by a decade of IISc-led research and patents, the startup is supported by government initiatives like DLI (Design-Linked Incentive) and C2S (Chips2Startup).

“Data Centers today demand agility—REDEFINE uniquely adapts to any workload, from AI to analytics, delivering breakthrough efficiency and lower costs for the next era of cloud computing. Our Series A funding will accelerate deployment of REDEFINE into consumer cloud data centers, hyperscalers, and other such use cases where we can offer customers better performance, efficiency, and flexibility while dramatically lowering total cost of ownership,” Shapeti said.

The startup will use the raised capital to build and test its first chip, strengthen its product, and expand the team from 50 to more than 90 people. It also plans to start demos with customers and secure early adoption in data centers. Over time, Morphing Machines will expand into global markets such as the US and Europe.

In the next 12 to 24 months, the startup will focus on building its first proof-of-silicon chip, signing paid pilot projects with data center customers, and improving its software toolchain. It aims to become a global leader in semiconductor accelerators while contributing to India’s growing semiconductor ecosystem.

Rajnish Kapur, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, said, “Like a Swiss knife, REDEFINE can dynamically switch between CPU and GPU capacity cores, making it ideal for the diverse, demanding and yet unpredictable workloads of modern applications that are increasingly AI-driven. The timing couldn’t be better: with the rising demands of high-performance computing, data centers, Generative AI, 6G, ADAS etc., the need for scalable AI acceleration is more urgent than ever.”