Bluehill leads $1.1M seed round in Indian semiconductor metrology startup Makr
What's the deal? Makr MicrosystemsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Bengaluru-based semiconductor metrology startup, has raised a ₹10.2 crore (roughly $1.1 million) seed round led by Bluehill VC, with participation from Artha Venture FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? Makr develops nanoscale 3D subsurface metrology products that let chipmakers visualise and measure hidden structures and defects beneath semiconductor surfaces. It combines Acoustic AFM imaging, optical tomography, and 3D data analytics software to enable non-destructive, high-resolution inspection.
The money will fund technology development, customer validation, and the push toward commercial deployment.
Why now? As chip architectures move into the third dimension, more of the structures that matter — interfaces and connections in advanced packaging, chiplets, and 3D designs — sit buried beneath multiple layers of material. That makes them harder to inspect, driving demand for tools that can see below the surface.
"As architectures move into the third dimension, understanding what is happening beneath the surface becomes critical to improving yield," said founder Ashwin Lal. He previously founded Shilps SciencesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and worked as an engineer at Applied MaterialsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Who's backing it? The round follows Bluehill VC's final close of its maiden fund at ₹400 crore, a vehicle focused on deeptech companies. The firm is betting on the less visible parts of the semiconductor supply chain — equipment, materials, and measurement — rather than the more crowded fabless chip design space.
"We are excited about companies that sit deeper in critical technology value chains," said Manu Iyer, general partner at Bluehill VC. "We believe this is a global opportunity, and that world-class semiconductor equipment and technology can be built from India."
The signal: The deal aligns with India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, which extends the country's ambitions beyond fabs and chip design into equipment, materials, and R&D. Metrology is among the harder pieces of that stack to build — and one investors are increasingly willing to fund.
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Image credit: IBM Research
