In the semiconductor industry, quickly identifying and resolving defects in the production process has always been a challenging issue. Singapore-based deep-tech startup SixSense is targeting this challenge by launching an AI-driven platform designed to help chip manufacturers predict and detect potential chip defects in real-time. Recently, SixSense successfully completed an $8.5 million Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $12 million. This round was led by Surge from Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India & SEA), with participation from investors such as Alpha Intelligence Capital and FEBE.
SixSense was founded in 2018 by engineers Akanksha Jagwani (Chief Technology Officer) and Avni Agarwal (Chief Executive Officer). Their goal is to transform the large amount of raw data generated during the production process—ranging from defect images to equipment signals—into real-time insights to help factories improve product quality and output. Despite the massive amount of data generated in the semiconductor production process, the founders found that the lack of real-time intelligence was particularly prominent.
Against this background, Akanksha and Avni began exploring the semiconductor industry. They believed that although the semiconductor industry is known for its high precision, the current inspection process still mainly relies on manual methods and is relatively fragmented. After talking to more than 50 engineers, they realized there was significant room for modernizing quality inspection.
SixSense's AI platform provides engineers with early warnings, helping them address issues before they escalate. The platform offers features such as defect detection, root cause analysis, and fault prediction. More importantly, it is specifically designed for process engineers, allowing them to quickly adjust and deploy models using their own data without writing any code. This convenience gives SixSense's products strong competitiveness in the market.
SixSense's solutions have already been applied by major semiconductor manufacturers such as GlobalFoundries and JCET, and have processed over 100 million chips. Customer feedback shows that the production cycle has improved by 30%, output has increased by 1-2%, and manual inspection work has been reduced by 90%. The company is now focusing on further expanding into the U.S. market, especially against the backdrop of geopolitical changes in global semiconductor manufacturing, where many new factories are highly receptive to AI technology, providing a favorable opportunity for SixSense's development.