India possesses abundant talent for semiconductor design, yet its biggest challenge lies not in skill but in a prevalent "service mindset," according to Shashwath TR, co-founder and CEO of Mindgrove Technologies. He asserts that for India to foster globally competitive chip companies, a fundamental shift from providing design services to owning products and intellectual property is crucial.
Shifting Towards Product Ownership
For decades, India has excelled in semiconductor design services, but the number of companies developing proprietary products and IP has remained limited. Shashwath TR emphasized that this dynamic must change. "Product thinking, the ability to conceptualize a product and engage with the users, is an ecosystem-level skill we need to build," he stated in an interview. He highlighted the need for "patient capital, product thought and anchor customers" to differentiate product-focused nations from service-oriented ones.
Mindgrove Technologies, a burgeoning fabless semiconductor startup, is actively contributing to India's domestic semiconductor ecosystem by developing indigenous system-on-chip (SoC) products. Their Secure IoT chip, the S2401, is slated for release by the end of this year, targeting applications such as smart meters, wearables, and access control systems. Following this, the Vision SoC, V2600, is expected by the end of next year, designed for use in CCTV cameras, dashcams, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and smart TVs.
Building Indigenous IP and Overcoming Challenges
Mindgrove's commitment to indigenous development is evident in its chip architecture, security subsystem, and integration work, all built in India and based on the Shakti core from IIT Madras. Shashwath TR noted, "The Shakti core, chip architecture, security subsystem, and integration work are entirely ours, based on initial open-source design done at IIT Madras. Design intelligence sits in India." While the company currently relies on large global foundries for fabrication—a standard practice for most fabless firms—it aims to deepen its indigenization with each successive chip, eventually targeting domestic fabrication facilities as India's manufacturing ecosystem matures.
The global demand for trusted silicon is also being shaped by geopolitical considerations. Governments and enterprises are increasingly scrutinizing the origin of electronic components. Shashwath TR observed a shift in customer conversations, where inquiries about chip design location, IP ownership, and foreign dependencies are now common, particularly for government procurement and critical infrastructure projects. Mindgrove's full ownership of its design and security architecture provides a significant advantage in this security-driven procurement landscape.
Competition, Customization, and RISC-V
Mindgrove's initial chips will enter markets already dominated by established low-cost Chinese and Taiwanese offerings. While competitive pricing helps attract original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Shashwath TR believes Mindgrove's true edge lies in its ability to collaborate closely and customize solutions for mid-sized customers in ways larger global vendors typically do not. "For smart meters and access control, that combination at our price point is genuinely rare globally," he explained.
Strategically, Mindgrove has chosen to build its chips on RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture, rather than ARM. This decision is both technical and strategic. Shashwath TR highlighted that ARM involves licensing fees, restricts customization, and creates foreign dependency. In contrast, RISC-V is open, royalty-free, and offers a path to "chip sovereignty" for India. The company leverages the Shakti core from IIT Madras, reinforcing its commitment to an open foundation.
Focus on Edge AI and Fundraising Realities
Mindgrove is also making a significant bet on edge AI, where artificial intelligence processing occurs directly on devices like cameras, wearables, and IoT systems, rather than relying solely on cloud infrastructure. This approach addresses critical concerns such as latency, privacy, connectivity costs, and reliability. Shashwath TR sees a vast opportunity in the Indian market, where hundreds of millions of devices currently depend on imported chips, representing enormous potential for domestic solutions.
Despite the growing interest in Indian semiconductor startups, fundraising remains a considerable challenge compared to software ventures. Chip companies require substantial upfront capital and have much longer revenue generation timelines. "Semiconductor fundraising in India is genuinely harder than software," Shashwath TR admitted, noting that many investors lack the technical understanding of the industry. Mindgrove has successfully secured capital from investors like Peak XV, Speciale Invest, Whiteboard Capital, Rocketship, and Mela Ventures, who demonstrated a grasp of the business's complexities.
Regarding talent, Shashwath TR maintains that India possesses the necessary capabilities. "Talent has never been a problem for us, it exists but needs a mission worth believing in," he said. The company also integrates AI into its chip design workflow, particularly for verification, design rule checking, and timing closure, which traditionally consume vast engineering hours. While AI helps lean teams accelerate development, Shashwath TR clarified that it complements, rather than replaces, core architectural judgment and strategic decision-making in chip design.