Female-founded semiconductor AI startup SixSense raises $8.5M
In a significant stride for AI innovation in the manufacturing sector, SixSense, a pioneering Singapore-based deep tech startup founded by two visionary women, has successfully closed an $8.5 million Series A funding round. This latest injection of capital, spearheaded by Peak XV’s Surge (formerly Sequoia India & SEA) with key participation from Alpha Intelligence Capital and FEBE, brings their total funding to an impressive $12 million. SixSense is revolutionizing the semiconductor industry with its advanced AI-powered platform, designed to predict and detect potential chip defects on production lines with unparalleled real-time accuracy.
Founded in 2018 by engineers Akanksha Jagwani (CTO) and Avni Agarwal (CEO), SixSense emerged from a critical observation: despite the immense volume of data generated within semiconductor fabrication plants (fabs), a surprising gap existed in real-time actionable intelligence. Their mission is to transform raw production data—ranging from intricate defect images to nuanced equipment signals—into immediate, actionable insights, empowering manufacturers to proactively prevent quality issues and significantly boost yield.
The co-founders bring a robust blend of expertise to SixSense. Akanksha Jagwani possesses a profound understanding of manufacturing processes, quality control, and software automation, honed through her experience building solutions for industry giants like Hyundai Motors and GE, and leading product development at startups such as Embibe. Avni Agarwal complements this with her technical acumen in building large-scale data analytics systems at Visa, some of which were later deemed trade secrets. A skilled coder with a strong mathematical background, Agarwal was driven by a long-standing interest in applying AI to traditional industries beyond fintech.
Their journey saw them evaluate diverse sectors, from aviation to automotive, before ultimately focusing on semiconductors. Agarwal highlighted to industry sources that despite the semiconductor industry’s reputation for precision, critical inspection processes often remain manual and fragmented. Discussions with over 50 engineers reinforced the clear need for modernizing quality checks within fabs.
SixSense’s platform addresses this challenge head-on. While fabs are equipped with dashboards and inspection systems, the burden of analysis and decision-making typically falls on engineers. SixSense’s AI solution provides early warnings, enabling prompt action before issues escalate. Its capabilities span comprehensive defect detection, precise root cause analysis, and proactive failure prediction. A key differentiator is its user-friendly design, specifically tailored for process engineers rather than data scientists. This allows engineers to fine-tune models using their own fab data, deploy them in less than two days, and trust the results—all without needing to write a single line of code. This emphasis on practicality makes the platform both powerful and highly accessible.
In a competitive landscape that includes in-house engineering teams leveraging tools like Cognex and Halcon, and inspection equipment manufacturers integrating AI, as well as emerging startups such as Landing.ai and Robovision, SixSense stands out with its specialized approach and proven results.
The impact of SixSense’s AI platform is already evident, with its adoption by major semiconductor manufacturers like GlobalFoundries and JCET. To date, the platform has processed over 100 million chips, yielding remarkable improvements for customers, including up to 30% faster production cycles, a 1-2% boost in yield, and an impressive 90% reduction in manual inspection work. The system’s broad compatibility with inspection equipment covering over 60% of the global market further solidifies its widespread applicability.
SixSense is strategically targeting large-scale chipmakers, encompassing foundries, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers (OSATs), and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs). Currently operational in fabs across Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Israel, the company is now poised for significant expansion into the U.S. market.
The current geopolitical climate, particularly the shifting dynamics between the U.S. and China, is reshaping global chip manufacturing, spurring substantial new investments worldwide. Agarwal noted that this trend presents a significant tailwind for SixSense. New facilities, particularly those “starting fresh without legacy systems weighing them down” in regions like Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, India, and the U.S., are increasingly open to AI-native solutions like SixSense from their inception, positioning the company for accelerated growth in a rapidly evolving industry.
