The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation (TNIFMC) has invested ₹20 crore in Aheesa Digital Innovations through its Tamil Nadu Emerging Sector Seed Fund (TNESSF), providing critical capital post-tape-out of VIHAAN-I, India’s first domestically designed RISC-V-based broadband networking System-on-Chip. Built on C-DAC’s VEGA processor core under the Digital India RISC-V programme and supported by MeitY’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, the 28nm SoC integrates compute, GPON/EPON access and system control for Optical Network Terminals powering BharatNet and private fibre deployments.
Sridharan Mani, CEO, announced the milestone at Delhi’s Semiconductor Startups Meet before Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
“VIHAAN is more than a chip — it is India’s declaration of semiconductor sovereignty. TNIFMC’s backing validates what we at Aheesa have always believed: that world-class networking SoCs can be designed, built, and commercialised right here in India. This is deep-tech made in India, for the world — and we are just getting started.”
— Saket Singh, Director & Chief Growth Officer, Aheesa Digital Innovation
From tape-out to commercialisation via strategic policy support
With first silicon imminent, Aheesa advances through bring-up, pilot with Seshnag reference platform and AROS software stack, targeting Q1 2027 volume production for domestic OEMs/ODMs. TNIFMC’s conviction investment validates fabless models in strategic sectors, complementing India Semiconductor Mission incentives and PLI electronics schemes that reduce import dependence on ONT silicon.
“Securing investment from TNIFMC validates Aheesa’s vision to design and build a world-class fabless semiconductor company. With this investment support, we are accelerating the production and facilitating the mass adoption of Aheesa VIHAAN networking SoCs to not just substitute imports, but to redefine broadband access on a global scale. From this moment, Aheesa has led the transformation of India from ‘Design in India’ to ‘Fabricate for India.'”
— Sukha Ghosh, Director & Chairman, Aheesa Digital Innovations
Policy convergence catalyses broadband semiconductor ecosystem
The funding aligns Tamil Nadu’s Deep Tech Startup Policy 2025-26 with national RISC-V initiatives, positioning Chennai as a networking silicon hub bridging telecom growth and Atmanirbhar Bharat. VIHAAN-I addresses last-mile fibre dependency, enabling indigenous FTTH devices amid BharatNet’s 2.5 lakh gram panchayat target.
TNIFMC’s role signals institutional maturity for patient capital in hardtech, where tape-out represents de-risked commercial inflection.
