Circuits Integrated raises pre-seed to commercialise Ka-band chip
Circuits Integrated Hellas (CIH) has secured pre-seed funding from Athens-based deep-tech investor Evercurious VC to accelerate commercialisation of CI-ONE, its first semiconductor product family. The deal closed in July, though the company did not disclose the investment amount. CIH expects CI-ONE to reach general availability in Q4 2026, with early sampling programmes already under way.
CI-ONE is a family of small-form-factor integrated modules combining a power amplifier and a single-pole double-throw RF switch into one compact, surface-mount package for Ka-band satellite communications applications. Functions that would conventionally require discrete components are collapsed into a single device, which CIH says results in modules that are approximately three times smaller, up to 50% cheaper and up to 25% more power-efficient than equivalent discrete implementations.
The technology
Ka-band sits in the 26.5–40 GHz frequency range and is increasingly the band of choice for high-throughput satellite (HTS) systems, including low-Earth-orbit constellations targeting maritime, in-flight and fixed-broadband services. The integration of power amplification and RF switching into a single module addresses a recognised pain point in Satcom front-end design: managing the bill of materials, board area and thermal profile of transmit chains at volume.
CIH co-founder and chief executive Paolo Fioravanti said the investment "provides important support as we bring CI-ONE to market and transition our focus from design services to products." Alex Vamvakas, partner at Evercurious VC, emphasised the founding team's technical transparency during due diligence as the decisive factor in the investment decision.
CIH's longer-term roadmap centres on III-V and silicon material integration in proprietary three-dimensional IC stacks, targeting flat-panel antenna platforms. CI-ONE is positioned by the company as the first commercial step in that broader integration strategy, with defence multi-band systems and emergency-response communications among the named target applications.
Market context
The market for Ka-band RF front-end components is contested by established compound semiconductor houses including Wolfspeed, Qorvo and MACOM, all of which supply integrated modules to the satellite ground-equipment supply chain. A number of smaller fabless and fab-lite European startups are also pursuing integrated RF solutions for next-generation Satcom platforms, reflecting the surge in commercial satellite constellation deployments.
European semiconductor policy context is relevant here. The EU Chips Act, now in its implementation phase, directs funding toward compound semiconductor and advanced packaging capabilities in member states, areas that directly overlap with CIH's stated technology approach. Greek and broader European deep-tech ecosystem development has been an explicit priority for early-stage funds such as Evercurious, which describes itself as founded by engineers turned investors and focused on hardware-software frontier bets.
CIH did not disclose the pre-seed round size, post-money valuation, or any named design-in customers. Investors and prospective customers will be watching for customer announcements and production-readiness confirmation as the Q4 2026 general availability date approaches.