ChipAgents raises $21M to automate semiconductor design with AI

ChipAgents, an AI platform for semiconductor design and verification, has closed an oversubscribed $21 million Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing its total funding to $24 million. The company’s agentic AI platform automates chip design processes through natural language commands, addressing the semiconductor industry’s need for faster, more efficient design workflows as chip complexity continues to escalate.

What you should know: ChipAgents has achieved remarkable traction since its seed round, with deployment at 50 leading semiconductor companies and explosive user growth.

• The platform saw a 6,377% increase in monthly usage during the first half of 2025.
• Companies using ChipAgents report 80% higher verification productivity compared to traditional industry practices.
• Annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew 50x year-over-year, signaling strong market demand.

How it works: The platform uses agentic AI to streamline complex hardware engineering processes through natural language-based commands.

• Engineers can automate RTL code generation (the blueprint language for computer chips), testbench creation, debugging, and verification tasks.
• The system reduces design cycles and costs by handling labor-intensive manual processes.
• The unified platform integrates automation, data, and design intelligence across the entire chip development workflow.

Who else is involved: The funding round attracted strategic investment from major semiconductor players and industry veterans.

• Strategic investors include Micron (a memory chip manufacturer), MediaTek (a smartphone chip maker), Ericsson (a telecommunications company), and several other semiconductor companies.
• Industry legends Wally Rhines (former CEO of Mentor Graphics), Raúl Camposano (former CTO of Synopsys), and Jack Harding (former CEO of Cadence) joined as advisors.
• Continued backing came from ScOp Venture Capital and Amino Capital.

Why this matters: The semiconductor industry faces mounting pressure to accelerate chip design as AI hardware demands intensify, while traditional EDA (electronic design automation) tools struggle with fragmented workflows and manual verification processes.

• Current chip design workflows haven’t kept pace with rapidly growing complexity, creating productivity bottlenecks.
• The AI hardware boom requires faster, more intelligent design solutions to meet accelerating market demands.
• ChipAgents’ approach addresses the industry’s need for unified, automated design tools that can handle next-generation chip development.

What they’re saying: Industry leaders emphasize the transformative potential of AI-driven chip design automation.

• “Electronic design automation (EDA) has powered decades of semiconductor progress, but today’s engineers still struggle with fragmented toolchains, steep costs, and workflows that haven’t kept pace with rapidly growing chip complexity,” said Professor William Wang, Founder and CEO of ChipAgents.
• “ChipAgents has demonstrated itself as having the best product in the market that does AI-powered RTL design, debugging, and verification for chip developers,” noted Lance Co Ting Keh, Venture Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.
• “I’ve met with three major semiconductor companies that have done competitive assessments of AI-based design solutions, and ChipAgents is the number one choice at all three,” said Wally Rhines, Former CEO of Mentor Graphics.

What’s next: ChipAgents plans to use the new funding to expand product development, scale customer acquisition, and deepen strategic partnerships within the semiconductor ecosystem as it continues building its unified agentic AI platform for next-generation chip development.