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Qualcomm announced on December 10, 2025, that it had acquired Ventana Micro Systems to strengthen its RISC-V CPU engineering. Qualcomm says Ventana’s expertise will complement its existing RISC-V work and custom Oryon CPU development. The company has not announced a Ventana-derived product or launch date in the materials reviewed, so the acquisition signals a deeper engineering commitment—not a confirmed new processor roadmap.
What Qualcomm announced
Qualcomm Technologies said it acquired Ventana Micro Systems on December 10, 2025. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Cupertino, Ventana described itself as a developer of high-performance, extensible and secure compute chiplets based on the RISC-V open instruction-set architecture. Qualcomm framed the deal as a way to deepen its RISC-V CPU expertise and advance its work in the RISC-V ecosystem. Qualcomm’s announcement did not disclose a purchase price or identify a resulting product.
Why Ventana fits Qualcomm’s plans
Qualcomm said Ventana’s team would complement its ongoing RISC-V work and custom Oryon CPU development. That is the company’s stated rationale: it does not mean Oryon is being replaced, that a particular Ventana design will ship, or that the acquired engineers will work exclusively on one architecture.
Ventana’s CEO at the time, Balaji Baktha, said the team would contribute its RISC-V expertise to developing Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU technology. Qualcomm executive Durga Malladi described the acquisition as “a pivotal step” toward delivering RISC-V-based CPU technology across products. Those remarks establish a stated connection between Ventana’s expertise, RISC-V and Oryon, but they do not provide a product roadmap.
#1 Best Overall
- Flexible MCU Board: Incorporate the ESP32-C3 32-bit RISC-V chip, operating up to 160 MHz, mounted multiple development ports,
- Developer Friendly: Compatible with Arduino IDE, MicroPython, CircuitPython, PlatformIO, ESP IDF, Zephyr, Matter, ESPNow, Meshtastic, WLED, ESPHome, Home Assistant, Ubidots
- Outstanding RF performance: Complete Wi-Fi functions and Bluetooth Low Energy, while supporting communication over 100m with anFL antenna
- Elaborate Power Design: 4 working modes as low as 44 μA in deep sleep mode, while supporting lithium battery charge management
- Thumb-sized Design: 21 x 17.5mm, Seeed Studio XIAO series classic form factor
Qualcomm’s RISC-V effort predates the acquisition
The deal is an extension of existing activity, not Qualcomm’s entry into RISC-V. In 2023, Qualcomm Technologies executive Ziad Asghar said the company had integrated RISC-V into products since 2019. Qualcomm also reported at the time that it had shipped more than 650 million RISC-V cores. That figure is Qualcomm’s company-reported total, not an independently verified industry-wide count. Qualcomm’s 2023 RISC-V explainer and interview with Asghar describe that earlier work.
What RISC-V could contribute
RISC-V is an open instruction-set architecture. Qualcomm’s 2023 explanation emphasizes that its flexibility can let designers customize processors for goals such as power, performance or area. These are potential design benefits Qualcomm describes, not independently measured results for a Ventana-based Qualcomm processor.
Rank #2
- CH32V003 Development Minimum System Board for Nano RISC-V CH32V003F4U6 Chip TYPE-C USB 22Pin
- on-board 24MHz Crystal oscillator
- Power by TYPE-C USB
Processor design also depends on the software around the hardware. Qualcomm has described ecosystem work through RISE that includes compilers, toolchains, system libraries, kernel and Linux integration, virtualization, firmware, and debugging and simulation tools. The acquisition announcement presents Ventana primarily as an addition to CPU expertise; it does not specify which software or ecosystem projects its team will take on.
What the deal does—and does not—confirm
- Confirmed: Qualcomm acquired Ventana and says its RISC-V expertise will complement ongoing RISC-V and Oryon CPU development.
- Not announced in the materials reviewed: a Ventana-derived retail processor, development board, named Qualcomm product or release date.
- Not disclosed: the acquisition’s price or other consideration. Qualcomm’s FY2026 first-quarter earnings presentation reiterated the strategic fit but did not provide a deal value. Qualcomm’s investor materials
The absence of a public product or schedule does not establish that Qualcomm has no internal product work underway; it means the reviewed company statements do not reveal one. Likewise, the acquisition alone does not establish which markets Qualcomm may target or how future products will perform.
Rank #3
- The ESP32-C3 SUPERMINI is positioned as a high-performance, low-power, cost-effective IoT mini development board, suitable for low-power IoT applications and wireless wearable applications
- It is equipped with a rich set of interfaces, including 11 digital I/Os that can be used as PWM pins and 4 analog I/Os that can be used as ADC pins.
- It supports four serial interfaces, including UART, I2C, and SPI.
- The ESP32-C3 features a 32-bit RISC-V CPU, including an FPU (Floating Point Unit) capable of 32-bit single-precision
- Package: 2PCS ESP32-C3 MINI Development Board ESP32 SuperMini ESP32 C3 WiFi Module
How to read the timing
At Qualcomm Investor Day in November 2024, CEO Cristiano Amon said RISC-V development and commercialization “will take time.” That comment predates the Ventana acquisition, so it is historical context rather than a current launch estimate. Qualcomm has not supplied a new schedule in the acquisition announcement or the earnings presentation reviewed here. Qualcomm Investor Day materials
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Ample PSRAM Storage – The development board offers 8MB PSRAM, providing substantial extra memory for handling more complex tasks, large data buffers, and advanced processing.
- Enhanced Multi-Tasking Capability – With the additional 8MB PSRAM, the ESP32-C5-WIFI6-KIT can efficiently manage multiple protocol stacks simultaneously, ensuring smooth operation in multi-tasking IoT environments.
- Support for Medium-Load Applications – The 8MB PSRAM allows the ESP32-C5 to handle medium-load applications more effectively, making it ideal for scenarios requiring real-time data processing or continuous communication.
- Seamless Performance – The increased memory improves the overall performance and responsiveness of the device, particularly when running applications with larger memory footprints or more demanding computations.
- Future-Proof for Complex Projects – With 8MB of PSRAM, developers are better equipped to build scalable, high-performance solutions that support both current and future IoT use cases, offering flexibility for future-proofing designs.
Rank #4
- ESP32-C6 WiFi 6 microcontroller development board adopts ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N8 module, which is equipped with RISC-V 32-bit single-core processor, up to 160MHz main frequency, built-in 8MB Flash
- Integrates WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5 and and IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee 3.0 and Thread) wireless communication, with superior RF performance
- Integrates rich peripherals including SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, LED PWM, SDIO and other interfaces, compatible with the pinout of ESP32-C6-DevKitC-1-N8 development board, more convenient to use and expand a variety of peripheral modules
- Onboard CH343 and CH334 USB HUB chips, supports USB and UART development at the same time via a USB-C port
- Comes with online examples and tutorials for ESP-IDF development environment
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