Bluehill.VC has led a ₹102 Million seed round in Makr Microsystems to develop nanoscale subsurface metrology for advanced chip packaging, 3D architectures and defect detection.
Bluehill.VC has led a seed round in semiconductor metrology startup Makr Microsystems, with participation from Artha Venture Fund, as investment interest in India’s semiconductor equipment ecosystem expands beyond chip design and fabs.
Makr is developing nanoscale 3D subsurface metrology technology to help chipmakers visualise and measure hidden structures and defects beneath semiconductor surfaces. The funding will support technology development, customer validation and progress towards commercial deployment.
Its core technology, Acoustic Atomic Force Microscopy (AAFM), combines atomic force microscopy with acoustic sensing to enable high-resolution, non-destructive subsurface measurement. Initial applications include advanced packaging, hybrid bonding, buried interfaces, chiplet interconnects and defect detection.
As semiconductor architectures become more complex, with more structures buried beneath multiple material layers, metrology is becoming increasingly important for identifying defects and improving chip yield. Existing techniques involve trade-offs across resolution, depth, speed and sample preparation.
Manu Iyer, general partner, Bluehill.VC, said, “We are excited about companies that sit deeper in critical technology value chains. Makr is solving a difficult problem in semiconductor manufacturing at a time when the industry is moving toward increasingly complex architectures. We believe this is a global opportunity, and that world-class semiconductor equipment and technology can be built from India.”
The investment aligns with India Semiconductor Mission 2.0’s broader focus on semiconductor equipment, materials, research and development (R&D) and supply-chain capabilities. Makr, led by Ashwin Lal, is targeting global semiconductor markets, while Bluehill’s maiden fund recently closed at ₹4 billion.
