GlobalFoundries, FermionIC Partner to Manufacture RF Chips in India

GlobalFoundries Engineering Private Limited (GF India) and Indian semiconductor startup FermionIC have entered a commercial partnership under which GF will manufacture the startup’s radio-frequency (RF) chips. 

The partnership will support FermionIC’s move from chip design to production and help scale its RF and millimetre-wave semiconductor products for satellite communications, defence, and infrastructure applications.

“Moving RF chips from design to production is particularly challenging,” said Gautam Kumar Singh, CEO of FermionIC. “Our collaboration with GlobalFoundries India enables us to deliver complex, production-grade RF silicon, not just prototypes, and build the confidence required by our customers in strategic applications.”

FermionIC is part of an early group of Indian fabless semiconductor firms under the Indian government’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme. The collaboration also reflects GF India’s push to support chip startups through its India Foundry Connect programme.

RF semiconductor products remain among the most difficult chips to design and manufacture because they require strict process control and manufacturing expertise. The companies said the partnership shows that Indian startups can navigate the entire semiconductor journey, from design to production.

Singh said FermionIC needed more than a manufacturing vendor at this stage of its growth. He said the startup required a partner with RF expertise and production support to help execute commercial-grade manufacturing.

GF India’s India Foundry Connect programme gives companies access to product design kits, multi-project wafer services, intellectual property libraries, and engineering support for RF and other semiconductor technologies. GF India said the model combines local engineering teams in India with GF’s manufacturing operations to speed up the transition to production.

“This partnership is about demonstrating what’s possible and then replicating it across the Indian fabless startup ecosystem at scale,” said Rohit Tickoo, Sales Director for GF India.

FermionIC said it plans to expand its RF product roadmap into additional applications and use more GF technologies as its semiconductor portfolio grows.