CG Power Subsidiary Axiro Leads Investment in US SiC Start-up ThinSiC — An Indian RF Design House Moves into Power Semiconductors, Betting on Low-Cost SiC That Reuses Each Substrate Up to 10 Times

On October 29, 2026, Axiro Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of India's CG Power and Industrial Solutions, announced a strategic investment in ThinSiC, a Silicon Valley developer of SiC (silicon carbide) power devices. Axiro served as lead investor in ThinSiC's latest funding round and also signed a long-term commercial partnership to support the development and commercialization of ThinSiC's technology. CG Power filed the press release with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) the same day. Neither the investment amount nor the total size of the round has been disclosed.

An RF design house enters power semiconductors through investment

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Axiro's core business is IC design for RF, millimeter-wave and high-speed connectivity. On its website, the company says it has shipped 400 million devices over more than a decade and offers products from 10kHz to 40GHz. It has no power semiconductor products yet. Axiro described the investment as part of a strategy to extend its portfolio into power electronics. Rather than building its own SiC manufacturing, it is entering the field by investing in and partnering with a start-up that owns the technology.

Axiro CEO Naveen Yanduru said SiC will be central to next-generation power electronics and that the biggest barrier to its adoption has been cost. He said ThinSiC's technology addresses the cost and scalability challenges that have held back high-voltage SiC.

ThinSiC cuts cost by "reusing the substrate"

ThinSiC is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. According to its website, it uses epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) to reduce crystal defects and separates ultrathin epitaxial layers from the substrate. This allows each SiC substrate to be reused up to 10 times, lowering material costs and capital spending. The company says defects were reduced by more than 80% from substrate to epitaxial layer, and lists two US patents (Nos. 12,125,697 and 11,848,197).

The company frames existing SiC devices as 3–5 times more expensive than silicon, with wafer manufacturing accounting for most of the cost, and sets targets of cost parity with silicon and high-voltage devices usable for power conversion on the grid. All of these are the company's own claims; no third-party verification has been published, nor product specifications such as production timing, voltage ratings or current ratings.

What it means for procurement and design teams

• India's semiconductor push is extending from back-end to design and power: CG Power already runs a back-end (OSAT) plant in Sanand through CG Semi, its joint venture with Renesas and others. Now it is entering SiC devices through its subsidiary Axiro. In India, RIR Power Electronics is also pursuing vertical integration in SiC
• High-voltage industrial applications could become SiC's next source of demand: the rail, industrial drive and grid applications Axiro named require higher voltage ratings than EVs. Design teams evaluating SiC in these areas should track how far the cost assumptions fall
• Still at the technology and investment stage: the investment amount, product ratings, production timing and manufacturing site are all undisclosed. It can be counted as a sourcing option only once device samples or production plans are shown
• It could also affect the substrate supply structure: if substrate reuse becomes practical, the number of devices made from one substrate rises, which could change sourcing approaches such as the long-term substrate supply agreements major device makers have signed

Referenced Fact Cards