Aheesa Achieves First-Pass Silicon Success with VIHAAN Broadband Chip Powered by VEGA Microprocessor

Aheesa Digital Innovations, a Chennai-headquartered Indian fabless semiconductor startup that designs chips for broadband networking and security, has achieved first-pass silicon success with ‘VIHAAN’. VIHAAN is a networking System-on-Chip (SoC) purpose-built for Fibre Broadband and built using the indigenous VEGA Microprocessor. The chip was taped out on Republic Day and achieved first-pass silicon success on Independence Day this year. It will proceed towards production tape-out, targeted for 2027. VIHAAN aims to bring Fibre Broadband to Indian homes.

Aheesa is backed by the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme. Earlier this year, the company raised about ₹40 crore from the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation (TNIFMC) through the Tamil Nadu Emerging Sector Seed Fund (TNESSF) and other private investors to accelerate product development and support growth in the semiconductor space. These successive rounds of funding followed approval under the DLI Scheme.

Semiconductor chip design contributes up to 50% of overall value addition across the semiconductor value chain and accounts for approximately 15–35% of the Bill of Materials (BOM) cost of electronic products. The DLI Scheme supports Indian startups designing chips for applications including satellite communications, drones, surveillance cameras, Defence and Aerospace Syste...