Case Study 4: CFO Services for a Semiconductor Startup

Background

A technology startup founded by former global semiconductor professionals set out to build India’s first homegrown chip manufacturing capability. Incorporated in late 2023, the company was at a pre-revenue stage, with seed funding secured but no financial systems, processes, or local leadership in place.

Challenges

When we started working with the company, they faced multiple challenges:

• Newly incorporated, with no directors in India or finance infrastructure.
• Long gestation period before revenue, making cash flow planning critical.
• Complex multi-tranche funding and convertible instruments to manage.
• Global promoters requiring seamless India-based financial control.
• High-cost, high-risk industry with sensitive vendor and legal contracts.

Our Approach

Entrust stepped in as a CFO partner from day one:

• Set up the finance backbone: bank accounts, approval metrices, MIS, and compliance processes.
• Assisted in auditor appointment formalities.
• Built detailed 5-year projections and cash flow dashboards to track runway.
• Managed seed fund inflows, vendor contracts, payroll, and treasury.
• Prepared business models along with cap table analysis to aid the company in bridge financing.
• Supported investor engagement: financial reporting, due diligence, and term sheet negotiations.
• Worked closely with promoters via weekly calls, providing transparency and strategic insights.
• Deep-dived into semiconductor business models to align finance with operations.

Outcome

Entrust became the client’s long-term CFO partner, replacing the need for a full-time CFO. Some notable outcomes:

• Strong cash flow discipline and visibility ensured timely funding and cost efficiency.
• Enabled scale-up from zero employees to a functioning operations team.
• Built investor confidence with clear financial narratives and ROI metrics.
• Built strong trust with the promoters who looked to the Entrust team for inputs in term sheet evaluation and to coordinate with the IC of the prospective investor fund for exchange of information and substantiation of business model.
• Positioned the company for continued growth, funding, and eventual commercialization.

Entrust continues to be the trusted CFO office for the company in this phase of growth—ensuring that its accounts, finance, compliance, and governance remain robust and future-ready.