It depends on the definition of "semiconductor startup". Since 1990 there have been no foundry or IDM (vertical) startups funded by Sandhill road VCs. ZERO. Z

It depends on the definition of "semiconductor startup". Since 1990 there have been no foundry or IDM (vertical) startups funded by Sandhill road VCs. ZERO. Zip. Nada. Fabless have been founded exclusively by VCs. But they are NOT the current bottleneck. It's foundries that are. E.g. TSMC, Samsung, Global Foundries, etc. And further ANY future innovation will NOT come from fabless companies - it will be from semiconductor HW companies or their supply chains. Basically Silicon Valley going all out into software/internet/social media has completely obsoleted the professional ecosystem there. And most of the people who were part of the prior ecosystem have been retiring or dying or have moved on to other things. All never to return. In general to do anything OTHER than fabless especially since 1995 (which is about the year that semiconductor companies started RACING out of 'Silicon Valley' never to return), you've had to get startup funding from anyway BUT VCs generally and usually only from Angel/VC investors OUTSIDE OF California. I know because I've founded such companies. I'm a HW guy with device physics, circuits and similar training with software added on. We had to bootstrap hard and then only ever got funding from foreign companies or non-California investors. My last startup was bought by a Taiwanese company. So I'm dubious and I also know well that the US no longer has the professional ecosystem to support semiconductor HW plays - the US literally needs to start from scratch (like it's 1950-1960) because it's already pissed away everything that would allowed a quick and cheap re-entry. Honestly the better investment is to so other things like follow where the money went (e.g. like my last company). People grandiosely wanting this don't even know what the right questions are anymore. You would have had to have "gone to Asia" (like I did) to keep up. The best hope right now is TSMC in Phoenix and Samsung's planned expansion (location still TBD but it's between Phoenix, Austin and Malta apparently) plus GFs Malta expansion. Most importantly: Silicon Valley will never rise again in this market.