EE Times’ Silicon 100, now in its 23rd edition, delivers the annual list of electronics and semiconductor startups to watch. This year’s report highlights three major trends in 2023: significant interest in artificial intelligence, resulting in a large number of AI-focused startups; an increased rate of startups globally across electronics and semiconductor markets, and a surge in Chinese startup activity. The report provides capital investors, entrepreneurs, business executives and market analysts with key indicators of continued startup growth, not just a ranking of the best startups.
The Silicon 100, Startups Worth Watching in 2023, ebook also answers some key questions, including:
- Can generative AI reenchant hardware design?
- Is quantum winter coming? Myth or reality?
- If unicorns exist, why is Europe failing to produce more of them?
- Why are SiC and GaN opening the next chapter of electronics?
- Is Silicon Valley lying dormant or showing signs of a rebound?
- What is the secret behind China’s startup boom?
Peter Clarke, a technology and business journalist who has curated the Silicon 100 list since its inception in 2004, continues to explore new technology innovations and track investment returns. The analysis by geography shows a declining proportion of startups from California and the U.S. (38), with China moving up to 21, although still behind the U.S. and North America. However, Clarke said China “now rivals Europe in its activity within the Silicon 100” and “Israel continues to punch far above its weight by population.”
Clarke has also expanded the technological categorization to 24 areas to enable a more granular analysis. These categories range from materials and packaging to quantum computing and security.
| • Materials, processes, packaging • Printed electronics • Chip manufacturing equipment • Photovoltaics • Energy harvesting • GaN, SiC, power • Foundry • EDA, IP, design services • Analog, mixed-signal, PMICs • Memory, storage • Bioelectronics, medical • MEMS, sensors, actuators, haptics • Optoelectronics, image sensors • Display devices, displays, driver chips |
• RF & IoT • 5G & RF • Radar, LiDAR, ADAS • Audio, visual processing • General-purpose processors, MCUs, networking, FPGAs • Photonic acceleration, computation • GPU-to-data-center AI • Edge AI • Quantum computing • Security |
The Silicon 100 ebook also features the China Fabless 100, now a critical component of the decision-making process for investors and market professionals. For the third consecutive year, EE Times China has ranked the leading fabless semiconductor companies to provide visibility into the future of semiconductor design.
This year’s report finds three major trends in China’s IC design industry as follows:
- The number of IC design companies and overall industry revenue continues to grow steadily.
- The number of publicly listed companies continues to grow, expecting to increase from 100 to 120 in 2023.
- The EDA/IP segment is booming.
Forty new companies joined the Silicon 100 list in 2023, which is a relatively high rate compared to the historical average of a third of the list each year, said Clarke. He provides further insights in a podcast with Embedded.com editor-in-chief Nitin Dahad.
Find out who has made the cut this year. Download the report here.
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