Mindgrove to Start Commercial Production of Secure IoT Chip for India

India's Semiconductor Startup Ecosystem Nears Key Milestone

Chennai-based Mindgrove Technologies is on the cusp of beginning the first commercial production of its Secure IoT chip, a significant milestone for India's semiconductor startup ecosystem. The company, founded in 2021 by Shashwath T R and Sharan Srinivas J, is an IIT Madras-incubated fabless semiconductor startup that has been working on its RISC-V-based microcontroller system-on-chip (SoC) for applications including secure biometrics, smart meters, industrial IoT devices, wearables, access-control systems, and EV battery management systems.

Key Features of the Secure IoT Chip

The Secure IoT chip is India's first commercial-grade high-performance microcontroller SoC built on the open-source RISC-V architecture. According to Mindgrove, the chip can lower overall device costs by nearly 30% compared to imported alternatives. The chip has already been taped out at 28nm and runs at 700 MHz.

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Prototype Deployments and Commercial Launch

Several customers are already testing prototype versions of the chip, with companies across secure biometrics and industrial IoT agreeing to evaluate and deploy the production-grade version once shipments begin. The startup's first wave of demand is expected to come from secure biometric systems used in telecom onboarding and identity authentication infrastructure.

Partnership with Pinetics

Mindgrove has signed a two-year commercial partnership with Pune-based Pinetics to integrate Mindgrove's chips into biometric access-control systems, smart locks, and camera applications. The partnership aims to create an indigenous "system on module" stack around Mindgrove's silicon, offering Indian OEMs and ODMs an alternative to imported semiconductor modules.

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Navigating Semiconductor Supply-Chain Disruptions

The startup is dealing with last-mile supply-chain bottlenecks linked to semiconductor packaging and manufacturing as it prepares for commercial production. Shashwath said some packaging components used in semiconductor manufacturing, including lead frames and substrates, have seen disruptions because of natural gas availability issues affecting parts of the global supply chain, particularly in Taiwan where suppliers operate.

Focus on Total Device Cost

While Mindgrove initially positioned itself as a low-cost chipmaker, the company said its larger focus is on reducing the total cost of electronic devices rather than simply lowering chip prices. Shashwath said the startup is trying to integrate multiple functionalities into a single chip so customers can eliminate additional hardware components and reduce deployment complexity.

Next-Generation Chips in the Pipeline

Alongside Secure IoT, Mindgrove is developing its next-generation "Vision" chip with support from the government's Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme. The Vision SoC is being built for edge computing and vision-processing applications such as CCTV cameras, dashcams, ADAS systems, and smart TVs. The startup is also experimenting with artificial intelligence tools to automate portions of semiconductor design workflows.

Investor Backing

Mindgrove is backed by investors including Peak XV Partners, Speciale Invest, Mela Ventures, and Rocketship.vc.