 "Semiconductor startup Mindgrove Technologies raises $8 mn Series A")
Mindgrove Technologies, a fabless semiconductor design startup, said that it has raised $8 million in Series A funding round.
The round is co-led by Rocketship.vc and Speciale Invest, with participation from Mela Ventures and existing investors Peak XV Partners, Nishchay Goel and Whiteboard Capital along with new participation from Anshul Goel.
Using this capital investment, the company intends to expand its workforce and enhance in-house engineering capabilities. The investment will also accelerate production and sales of its first chip.
Earlier in May 2024, the company launched ‘Secure IoT’ — India’s first commercial-grade high-performance microcontroller System-on-Chip (SoC) taped out at 28 nm. It is designed for electronic devices that are transforming into ‘smart’ connected devices like watches, meters, locks and access control units, as well as for powering devices like printers and point of sale (PoS) machines. The chip is on schedule to reach the market by mid-2025.
In addition, Mindgrove received approval under The Government of India’s semiconductor Design-Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme amounting to Rs 15 crore for developing a new chip, Vision SoC. This is meant for high-performance edge computing and vision processing applications — CCTV cameras, dashcams, video recorders, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and smart TVs.
“The recent investment and the DLI scheme reaffirms confidence in our thesis and capabilities,” said Shashwath T R, CEO of Mindgrove Technologies.
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He added, “The demand in India for high-performance SoCs with essential features for security and edge-computing is growing. We have been actively working towards meeting this need and have made progress in bringing designed-in-India chips to the market.”
Mindgrove was founded by Shashwath T R and Sharan Srinivas J. Headquartered at the IIT Madras Research Park in Chennai, Mindgrove Technologies designs state-of-the-art scalable and reliable SoCS in India under the brand name Mindgrove Silicon
Shashwath said the company is focusing on products related to general purpose computing, which can be cross-sold across a large number of verticals like automotive, robotics, wearables and smart devices.
“A lot of chips that you get from outside the country are not designed for the ecosystem that you find here,” said Shashwath.
He added, “We are working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) so that they can use SoC, which has Indian support, including data sheets and user manuals that they can understand. Also, the time to market and cost of development gets reduced.”
The company is expanding its team across all departments - business, engineering, product and applications.
“Mindgrove Technologies represents the future of India’s technology sector, with its innovative solutions tailored for the needs of a rising India,” said Sailesh Ramakrishnan, managing partner at Rocketship.vc.
Vishesh Rajaram, managing partner at Speciale Invest said Mindgrove Technologies is on a mission to revolutionise the global semiconductor industry with cutting-edge, indigenously designed solutions.
“Their successfully taped-out Secure IoT SoC exemplifies innovation and cost-efficiency, addressing both domestic and global demand for high-performance microcontrollers. With the approval from MeitY under the DLI Scheme, Mindgrove is now developing a second RISC-V SoC aimed at high-performance edge computing and video processing for applications like CCTV cameras, dashcams, automotive ADAS, and smart TVs. The latest round of funding will enable it to accelerate product development and market entry, further driving India's leadership in the global semiconductor landscape,” said Rajaram.
The startup is incubated by IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation and IIT Madras Incubation Cell. Mindgrove designs high-performance SoCs with advanced features at competitive prices for the Indian and global markets. In early 2023, Mindgrove Technologies secured $2.325 million in seed funding from Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), Speciale Invest, and Whiteboard Capital.