EE Times’ Silicon 100, now in its 25th edition, evaluates startups on both quantitative and qualitative attributes. These factors include technology-readiness level, intellectual property, strategic alliances, scalability, addressable markets, and fundraising activity, as well as the caliber of their founding and management teams, said Anne-Françoise Pelé, editor-in-chief of EE Times Europe and who also oversees the Silicon 100 report.
The annual selection, curated by technology and business journalist Peter Clarke, reports an increase in quantum computing startups, while there is a decrease in more fundamental component startups in analog, mixed-signal, power, sensor, and display segments. Clarke also reports a slight decrease in overall AI companies and a move to edge AI, but AI still represents a significant portion of the Silicon 100 companies.
This year’s edition covers 24 technology categories that range from materials, processes, packaging, and chip equipment to electronic components, semiconductors, sensors, AI, quantum computing, and security. While the highest levels of investment have been centered on AI and quantum computing, 5G, 6G, and RF chips and solutions are no less important as mobile networks continue to demand higher bandwidth, lower latency, and higher reliability. This often translates into a need for 5G and RF devices that can deliver higher efficiency, lower power consumption, and certainly higher integration to reduce costs and simplify complex designs.
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The 5G, 6G, and RF startups represented this year are EdgeQ Inc., Forefront RF Ltd., and new entrant Falcomm Inc. Picocom Ltd., which was a startup to watch in the 5G, 6G, and RF category in 2024, was dropped from the Silicon 100 ranking. Picocom experienced challenges as the U.S.-China tension ramped up, according to the company, which became a barrier to sales, resulting in losses in 2024.
These companies deliver advanced technologies that make it easier to develop and deploy 5G systems. These next-generation devices offer a range of benefits, including higher efficiency, lower component count, board space savings, and reduced complexity.
With 5G wireless technology comes increased design complexity and the need to support more frequency bands. These startups are addressing these challenges, along with targeting pain points around scalability, efficiency, heat generation, and size.
EdgeQ, founded in 2018, integrates 4G/5G physical layers, AI, and a RISC-V architecture into a scalable silicon platform for small cells to macro cells. Its solutions support Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) compliance and multimode 4G/5G convergence.
Since the introduction of its 5G base-station-on-chip in 2021, EdgeQ has announced partnerships that claim several firsts in the industry, including the industry’s first O-RAN Split 6 solution, where multiple operators and multiple data streams are supported in a single-box, single-silicon common platform, and the first software-defined 4G and 5G small cells for indoor and outdoor environments, delivering both 4G and 5G on a single chip. This allows customers to reconfigure and scale from 4G to 5G without any hardware change, redesign, or reinstallation.
Falcomm, a spinout of Georgia Tech, was founded in 2021 to develop its dual-drive, silicon-based power amplifier (PA). Claiming record energy efficiency and enhanced linearity at high frequencies, the PA targets satellite, 5G, and 6G communications and can also be used in wearables.
In wireless communication applications, the Falcomm solution delivers 70% more RF output power and 30% less heat, resulting in more coverage and smaller batteries and cooling systems.
Most recently, the company’s Dual-Drive PA technology has been implemented on multiple GlobalFoundries (GF) platforms, including 22FDX, 130NSX, and 45RFSOI, with “impressive” results, according to GF. The architecture is also being implemented on GF’s 130RF gallium nitride (GaN) process to deliver the industry’s “most efficient and linear GaN PAs to date.”
Forefront RF, founded in 2020, specializes in mobile RF front-end (RFFE) designs for smartphones, wearables, and IoT devices. The company’s Foretune technology uses a dynamically tunable duplexer to replace multiple fixed-frequency duplex filters, reducing PCB space requirements and component count while supporting more frequency bands.
Forefront RF is preparing to launch its first-generation product, the FFM51010, in 2026, targeting the market for cellular-enabled smartwatches. The RFFE module combines a PA, low-noise amplifier, bidirectional coupler, and tunable duplexer that dynamically self-configures according to available frequencies and/or services needed, while simplifying the complexity of mobile front-end designs.
Click here for the complete Silicon 100 report. In this latest edition, 59 companies made the list from last year, and 41 startups have joined the roster of 100 emerging companies.
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