A new wave of semiconductor startups have been chosen to join ChipStart, the UK Government-backed incubator programme.

ChipStart, provided by global startup accelerator SiliconCatalyst.UK, provides technical expertise and commercial support to help UK-based semiconductor firms grow and create high-skilled jobs.

Semiconductors are a cornerstone of the UK’s tech economy, with the sector already worth £10 billion, and projected to grow up to £17 billion by 2030.

They power the technology we rely on daily, from smartphones and medical devices, to electric cars and cutting-edge AI, and control the flow of electricity in electronic systems.

This year’s ChipStart cohort, backed by £1.1 million of government funding, includes RX-Watt, a spinout of the University of Glasgow. The firm is pioneering battery-free sensors that can be wirelessly powered using safe microwave signals.

Its technology could save industries time and money where they depend on monitoring products and goods in real-time, helping manufacturers prevent costly equipment failures and ensuring critical goods like vaccines are stored at the right temperature throughout the supply chain.

The full list of firms participating in the third wave—which includes other Scots firms, such as Kelvin Quantum—are as follows:

1. Chipletti
2. Ethicronics
3. Kahu
4. Kelvin Quantum
5. Unnamed from the University of Glasgow
6. Prospectral
7. Quantopticon
8. RxWatt
9. SiDesign
10. Smith Optical

Companies from the first two ChipStart cohorts are already on track to raise over £40 million in private investment, the government said.

Speaking on the incubator, Sean Redmond at Silicon Catalyst.UK, commented: “We have been delighted with the high quality of new semiconductor startup applications we received for our third cohort of ChipStart from across the UK semiconductor clusters.

“Our now proven incubation process, that provides no cost design tools and chip manufacturing, will help these competitively selected companies attract the right private investment at the right time, launching them onto the global semiconductor stage.

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“With the help of our experienced semiconductor executive advisors, which includes co-founders of Arm, we can help these young companies make great decisions and build the next generation of UK semiconductor unicorns.

“The next ten years of semiconductors will be a race to a £2 trillion industry. These new UK scale-ups will be in pole position to win that race.”