• Eliyan raised a $40 million Series A round led by Tracker Capital, Intel, and Micron. 
• The startup specializes in connecting chips to increase computing power and efficiency. 
• Its founders told Insider they hit on geopolitical concerns and technical details to close the deal.

Chipmakers have found that semiconductors can't keep getting smaller and more powerful, signaling the eventual end of the principle known as Moore's Law named after the Intel founder Gordon Moore. But businesses are struggling to accept that, still demanding a smaller size and increase in power even though it may no longer be physically feasible.

Eliyan, a startup in Santa Clara, California, is making technology allowing chips to interconnect, is trying to address that problem and raised a $40 million Series A round on Tuesday led by Tracker Capital, Intel, and Micron. The company is betting that companies will want to use existing technology to link up chips to accomplish more in that smaller footprint. Its founder and CEO, Ramin Farjadrad, told Insider the company made its pitch to investors by hitting on geopolitical concerns and mastering the technical details.

Eliyan's Nulink technology connects chips, a task that would usually require more advanced hardware. Typically, companies use something called a silicon interposer, a device that connects chips but reduces performance and increases power consumption. The interposers are primarily sold by companies outside the US.

Unlike regular silicon interposers, Eliyan uses organic interposers, different materials that are easier to manufacture, according to Farjadrad. The firm has roughly 30 employees and plans to expand to 40 and invest more in building out the product.

"Our technology and plan is very strategic," Farjadrad said. "We looked at it from two angles: creating a path toward the ultimate chiplet solution while minimizing the risk of semiconductor manufacturing."

The risks associated with semiconductor manufacturing stem fromthe Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, according to Farjadrad. Based on Taiwan off the coast of China, TSMC produces upward of half of the world's chips, and with threats from China to take action against the self-governing island, concerns have risen about the global supply of chips.

While Eliyan has attracted interest and investment from big players like Intel, its main focus is building out its technology to prove it works and get more chipmakers on board, according to Farjadrad. Since the semiconductor industry is long entrenched, Farjadrad knows convincing more big players to adopt Eliyan's technology will be important.

"We created a lot of excitement in these companies," Farjadrad said. "The challenge we faced was to get these guys to commit to something like this for their next generation. That's what comes next."

Read the 19-slide pitch deck Eliyan used to raise a $40 million Series A: