As the RISC-V ecosystem grows, startups struggle to verify complex chips before tape-out. Chennai-based startup addresses this with a unified, Python-friendly, AI-assisted pre-silicon platform that streamlines verification, early software bring-up, and security analysis in one workflow.
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Chennai, Vyoma Systems is a deep-tech semiconductor startup redefining how RISC-V chips are verified, validated, and secured before silicon. Incubated at IIT Madras and operating from the IITM Research Park ecosystem, it was built to solve one of the biggest bottlenecks in chip developmentpre-silicon quality and security.
Lavanya Jagadeeswaran, CEO, Vyoma Systems, India explains as adoption of RISC-V International accelerates globally, startups and design teams are embracing the open ISA model to build domain-specific processors for IoT, AI accelerators, and high-performance systems. However, while the instruction set is open, verification infrastructure remains complex, time-consuming, and expensive. Traditional flows demand large verification teams, fragmented toolchains, and lengthy regression cyclesdelaying time to market.
The startup addresses this gap through its flagship platform, UpTickProa unified, containerized pre-silicon environment that integrates functional verification, FPGA-based validation, early software bring-up, and security analysis into a single workflow.
A Modern Approach to Verification
Unlike conventional SystemVerilog-UVM flows, the company adopts Python-based verification frameworks such as cocotb, enabling teams to leverage the broader Python ecosystem. This shift allows engineers to reuse mature libraries, integrate automation easily, and accelerate development cycles.
UpTickPro brings the power of AI-assisted workflows into hardware development. AI agents support faster testbench creation, coverage analysis, and regression optimizationwhile keeping engineers in the loop. The result is reduced verification time, faster coverage closure, and earlier confidence in design stability.
Rather than replacing established EDA tools, the company compresses the path toward sign-off readiness. Teams can move from RTL to system-level confidence without repeatedly rebuilding infrastructure at every stage.
Security Before Silicon
A major differentiator for them is their pre-silicon side-channel analysis capability. The platform analyzes RTL-level activity to identify potential power and signal leakage risks before fabrication. Instead of predicting exact leakage values, the approach conservatively flags architectural vulnerabilities earlywhen fixes are still feasible.
By integrating security checks alongside functional verification, it ensures that quality and security evolve together, not sequentially.The subscription-based model supports startups, academic institutions, and enterprise RISC-V teams. Startups benefit from cloud-based simulations and rapid onboarding, while enterprises can integrate the platform into on-prem flows for targeted verification and security use cases.
The company’s philosophy is rooted in enabling semiconductor self-reliance. Traditionally, Indian design houses depended heavily on foreign EDA ecosystems for verification infrastructure. It provides a vendor-independent alternativecombining proprietary IP, open-source innovation, and cloud deployment to deliver cost-effective, scalable solutions.
With a lean team supported by AI-driven workflows, it is balancing deep R&D with customer-driven revenue growth. Over the next few years, the company plans to expand its AI agent ecosystem across verification and debugging tasks while strengthening its security offerings.The company envisions becoming the go-to partner for pre-silicon quality and security in the RISC-V ecosystemhelping chip designers move faster, reduce risk, and build trust before silicon.Because in semiconductor innovation, confidence is everythingand it is building it from the ground up.