Chipmind launches AI agents to transform chip design and accelerate semiconductor development
Chipmind, a European startup focused on accelerating semiconductor innovation, has launched Chipmind Agents, a new class of AI-driven tools built to streamline chip design and verification. The company aims to reshape the way engineering teams develop microchips — cutting design time and increasing productivity through automation.
These agents are specifically tailored for each company’s proprietary environment, allowing them to understand design hierarchies, adapt to existing workflows, and integrate seamlessly with internal electronic design automation (EDA) tools. By learning from design-specific data, Chipmind Agents can execute multi-step engineering processes while maintaining human oversight, ensuring precision and security throughout the development cycle.
Intelligent automation built for semiconductor complexity
Chipmind designed its platform around the reality that chip design environments rely heavily on deeply embedded legacy systems. Rather than replacing these systems, the company’s technology prepares them for AI-driven automation — enabling agentic workflows that fit within existing infrastructure.
“In semiconductor engineering, customization and data protection are vital, but true design awareness is what defines an intelligent partner,” said Harald Kröll, Co-Founder and CEO of Chipmind. “Each company’s chip exists within a unique ecosystem of tools and constraints. Our design-aware agents understand that full context, allowing teams to save time without compromising control.”
Kröll added that this awareness-based approach lets teams achieve faster problem-solving cycles and consistent design outcomes.
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Founders bring deep chip design and AI expertise
Founded by Harald Kröll and Sandro Belfanti, both PhD graduates of ETH Zurich, Chipmind is the first European startup to specialize exclusively in AI agents for chip design and verification. The founders have developed more than 20 chips together — including mobile modems and system-on-chip solutions — giving them direct insight into the inefficiencies engineers face.
“Anyone who’s worked in chip development knows how much time goes into repetitive, precision-based tasks,” said Belfanti, Chipmind’s Co-Founder and CTO. “We built Chipmind Agents to handle those routine steps automatically, freeing engineers to focus on the creative challenges that push technology forward.”
The semiconductor industry is under pressure to deliver faster, more complex chips amid soaring global demand. Traditional workflows can no longer scale linearly with complexity. At the same time, a new generation of engineers is increasingly comfortable using AI-assisted tools, creating the perfect moment for intelligent collaboration between human and machine.
Chipmind’s $2.5 million pre-seed funding round, led by Founderful with participation from angel investors in the semiconductor space, will accelerate its product roadmap and deepen industry partnerships.
“Chipmind stands out as a real solution to a real problem,” said Edouard Treccani, Principal at Founderful. “The founders have decades of direct experience, and early feedback from the market has been outstanding.”
Chipmind invites semiconductor teams to explore how agentic AI can speed up their design cycles. Interested companies can request a demo through the Chipmind team.
