Press Release
Silicon Catalyst announces the 3rd Annual “Arm Silicon Startups Contest”
Worldwide call for applicants to qualify and win significant commercial and technical support from Arm and entry to the Silicon Catalyst Incubator
Submission Deadline: April 25th, 2025
Silicon Valley, California – March 17, 2025 – Silicon Catalyst, the only incubator + accelerator focused on the global semiconductor industry, including Chips, Chiplets, Materials, IP and Silicon fabrication-based Photonics, MEMS, Sensors, Life Science and Quantum, is pleased to announce the 3rd Annual worldwide “Arm Silicon Startups Contest” in partnership with Arm, the industry’s highest-performing and most power-efficient compute platform. The contest, launching today, is organized and administered by Silicon Catalyst and is directed towards early-stage entrepreneurial teams developing a system-on-chip (SoC) design using Arm® processor IP.
The contest offers an opportunity for silicon startups to win valuable commercial, technical and marketing support from Arm and Silicon Catalyst, with the winner and runner receiving Arm technology credit worth $250,000 and $150,000 respectively.
The contest is open to silicon startup companies that have raised a maximum of $20 million in funding and no more than $1 million of revenue per annum. All contest applicant organizations will also be considered for acceptance to the Silicon Catalyst Incubator/Accelerator.
Both the winner and runner-up companies will also receive:
Access to the full Arm Flexible Access for Startups program, which gives $0 access to a broad portfolio of extensively verified IP, tools, training and support to develop a system-on-chip (SoC)
Fast-tracked application review by the Silicon Catalyst Partners to the incubator’s 24-month program
Investor pitch review and preparation support by Silicon Catalyst, with an opportunity to present to the Silicon Catalyst Venture group, Silicon Catalyst Angels and their investor syndication contacts
"In a world where we’re seeing AI deployed everywhere from cloud to edge, there has never been a more exciting time to be a silicon startup,” said Paul Williamson, SVP and GM, IoT Line of Business, Arm. “Since its launch, Arm Flexible Access for Startups has enabled more than 160 startups to reach new heights of innovation – we look forward to seeing the creativity this year’s prize inspires.”
“Arm is one of the leading compute platforms in the world and has been both a Silicon Catalyst Strategic Partner and In-Kind Partner since 2020. The Arm Flexible Access program is a game-changer for startups. Through this program, silicon startups get simplified access to a broad range of Arm’s leading IP, the ability to experiment with multiple IP before deciding which is right for their design, and no-cost access prior to manufacturing, making Flexible Access a highly valuable part of the contest prize,” stated Pete Rodriguez, Silicon Catalyst CEO. “Entrepreneurial teams entering the contest will also automatically be applying to Silicon Catalyst, with the possibility to benefit from our two-year incubation and acceleration as well as the opportunity to present to the Silicon Catalyst Angel investment group and their syndication network of investment partners.”
The contest is now live and will run through to April 25, 2025.
Judges include senior executives from both Arm and Silicon Catalyst.
The contest winner and runner-up will be announced on May 15, 2025.