CHENNAI: India might not be a global power in the semiconductor sector, but this did not stop Mindgrove Technologies, a Peak XV Partners-backed fabless semiconductor startup incubated by IIT Madras, to design country’s first commercial high-performance system on chip (SoC), which is likely to be manufactured in Taiwan.
Also known as microcontrollers, these RISC-V-based chips are found in vehicles, robots, office machines, medical devices, mobile radio transceivers, vending machines and home appliances, among others. With Mindgrove entering the game, Indian Original Equipment Manufacturers can use an Indian chip in their products which is estimated to cost 30% less than others without compromising on high-end features.
“The pandemic revealed the wide gap between high-end and low-end players in the embedded systems space, with the latter prioritizing cost and volume over the chip’s actual performance. Thus, we set out to design chips that target the middle market. ‘Right-sizing’ has been the key differentiating factor along with enhanced flexibility, adaptability, security and cost-efficiency coupled with a robust support system,” says Shashwath TR, CEO and C0-Founder of Mindgrove Technologies.
The SoC also known as Secure IoT is the only Indian chip that is commercially available in this segment, Mindgrove’s chip is designed to provide programmability, flexibility, security and superior computing power for controlling applications on a wide range of connected smart devices. This chip can control everything from wearables like smartwatches to devices like connected electricity, water, and gas meters as well as EV battery management systems amongst others, he said.
India is planning to create an entire value chain of semiconductor in India, starting with its design, fabrication and ATMP (Assembly, Test, Marking and Packaging) facilities. “We are offering design support to Indian brands to accelerate innovation and scale of production in India, which will be a significant step towards self-sufficiency and global positioning in semiconductor and electronics space,” he added.
“India consumes over a billion chips a year and anywhere between 10 to 50 million of them can be replaced by Secure IoT. Further, there is widespread demand for microchips, and we expect global buyers to be excited about a new option from India,” he said, adding that the microcontroller will be manufactured in Gujarat, once Tata sets up a foundry there.