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THE INDUSTRY
Tracking 2022’s US$38B in Semiconductor

Investments for Startups

By Ahmed Ben Slimane, Strategic Semiconductors

espite the challenges posed by the
pandemic-induced semiconductor
shortage, ongoing war in Ukraine and
Descalating trade tensions between
China and the U.S., many semiconductor
companies still managed to raise substantial
funds in 2022, collectively raising over
US$38.8 billion.
China and the U.S. are among the top
semiconductor-producing nations in the world,
both investing heavily in the industry. However,
recent tensions between the two countries have
resulted in increased scrutiny and limitations
on semiconductor trade between them, causing
a decline in trade activities within the semicon-
ductor industry.
The venture-capital ecosystem trend has
been toward lower transaction values and the
participation of more traditional players. This
can be attributed to high interest rates, more
stringent deal conditions, and the impact of
fluctuating macro-economic factors.
In 2022, the number of deals remained
relatively consistent, but total investment saw a
decline from US$10.4 billion in the first quarter
of 2022 to US$8 billion invested across 298 deals
in the second quarter. April and August saw par-
ticularly low deal values and counts. However,
investment quickly rebounded, reaching
US$9.5 billion for 317 deals in the third quarter
of 2022 and US$10.8 billion for 347 deals in
the fourth quarter. Despite the challenging and
volatile environment, it was still possible to
secure large deals. There was a slight decrease
in the number of deals in Series A and C, while
Series B saw an increase by the end of the year.
This is typical, as Series A deals are considered a
validation of the startup or when the company
needs additional funds to establish its concept,
and Series C deals are for later stages of the
company’s growth.
The top five investment sectors in 2022 were
batteries, integrated-circuit design (e.g., SoCs,
analog/mixed signal, MCUs, GPUs), materials
(e.g., coating, wafers, PCBs), autonomy/ADAS
and automotive components. The batteries
sector received the highest investment, with a
total of US$9.4 billion, followed by the design
sector, with US$4.3 billion, and the materials
sector, with US$3.9 billion.
In China, the total investment reached
US$23 billion, accounting for approximately
60% of all global investment. The principal
areas of investment in China were materials
at 15%, batteries at 14% and IC design at 13%.
The U.S. invested US$7.8 billion, with a sizable

MARCH 2023 | www.eetimes.eu