SixSense, a Singapore-based deep tech company, has raised $8.5 million USD in a Series A round to scale its AI-powered defect detection platform for semiconductor manufacturers.
The round was led by Peak XV’s Surge, with participation from Alpha Intelligence Capital, FEBE Ventures, and other investors. Total funding now stands at $12 million.
Founded by engineers to solve real-world pain on the fab floor
Co-founded by Avni Agarwal (CEO) and Akanksha Jagwani (CTO), SixSense helps chipmakers use AI to detect defects, predict failures, and boost yield — all without needing in-house data science teams. The platform is designed for process engineers, allowing them to fine-tune and deploy models without writing code, and go live in under 48 hours.
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From dashboards to decisions — automating quality in real time
Most fabs still rely on static dashboards and manual inspection to catch anomalies. SixSense integrates with standard inspection equipment to provide real-time pattern recognition, root cause analysis, and early warnings for production issues — automating tasks traditionally left to engineers.
The company already works with major chipmakers including GlobalFoundries and JCET, and its platform has been used on over 100 million chips, helping some customers reduce manual inspection time by 90%, speed up production by 30%, and improve yields by 1–2%.
Positioned for a global wave of fab expansion
With semiconductor supply chains shifting due to U.S.–China tensions, new fabs are rapidly scaling in Southeast Asia, India, and the U.S. SixSense is already active in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Israel, and is expanding operations in North America, where fabs are being built without legacy software — making them ideal candidates for SixSense’s AI-native approach.
“We’re helping fabs start fresh with intelligent tools — not just dashboards,” said Agarwal. “And we’re doing it in a way that’s scalable, fast to deploy, and truly usable by engineering teams.”
Competing with both legacy tools and newer AI platforms
SixSense competes with both traditional visual inspection systems (e.g., Cognex, Halcon) and newer AI startups like Landing AI and Robovision, but differentiates itself through its no-code user experience, fab-native design, and seamless integration with existing equipment covering 60%+ of global inspection systems.
