Cyient invests $100 mn in semiconductor business, plans more funds

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Domestic technology company Cyient has earmarked a USD 100 million investment for its newly carved out semiconductor business, a top official said on Tuesday.

The Hyderabad-headquartered company is also looking at raising capital from an external investor by September and is in the process of appointing merchant bankers for the same, officials said.

Without quantifying the amount that it is targeting to raise, its Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Bodanapu said the money will be deployed for the talent-intensive research and development efforts.

Bodanapu said that the board has already committed USD 100 million for the new venture and it will also be looking to raise more resources from external investors.

He said the company is targeting to offer customised silicon chip solutions to a variety of industries, both globally and domestically, including electric vehicles and discoms, which need smart meters.

The demand is also very high for such solutions, and apart from that, it will be focusing on intellectual property creation to grow the new business, he said, adding that developing geopolitics will also act as a tailwind.

Cyient has been engaged in the business already and has deployed 40 customised chips to clients till now, but it carved out the business as a wholly owned subsidiary for better focus and capitalising on the opportunities, Suman Narayan, the chief executive of the newly created business, said.

Narayan said all the 400 employees of Cyient who are currently engaged in semiconductor-related work will get transferred to the new arm and made it clear that the focus of the new business will not be hiring a lot of people but having quality talent which is able to deliver.

He said the company will not be focusing on the higher-end, lower nanometer chips dominated by the likes of Nvidia but will focus on the more mature higher NM chips.

Over 60 per cent of the costs for the business is talent, and added that the new capital infusion will help the company in making the right investments.

Bodanapu said the parent company eventually plans to list the arm on the markets, while a senior official said that it will be aiming to raise the capital from financial investors and family offices for its expansion.