- ByStartupStory | December 23, 2024
Fabless semiconductor design startup Mindgrove Technologies has raised $8 million (INR 68.04 crore) in its Series A funding round, co-led by Rocketship.vc and Speciale Invest.
The funding round also saw participation from Mela Ventures, Peak XV Partners, Nishchay Goel, Whiteboard Capital, and Anshul Goel.
The Bengaluru-based startup plans to leverage the fresh capital to expand its workforce, enhance in-house engineering capabilities, and accelerate production and sales of its inaugural chip.
Additionally, Mindgrove announced it has received approval under the Government of India’s semiconductor Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, amounting to INR 15 crore, for the development of its new chip named “Vision SoC.”
Mindgrove’s CEO, Shashwath TR, commented on the development, stating: “The recent investment and the DLI scheme reaffirms confidence in our thesis and capabilities. 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.”
Founded in 2021 by Shashwath TR and Sharan Srinivas Jagathrakshakan, Mindgrove has developed microcontroller chips aimed at the global smart devices market, which is projected to reach $116.4 billion in the next five years.
The company’s flagship product, Secure IoT SoC, is a 700 MHz high-performance microcontroller that delivers programmability, flexibility, security, and superior computing power. Mindgrove claims the chip operates at an estimated 30% lower cost compared to similar products in the market.
The chip is designed for a wide range of smart devices, including smartwatches, smart locks, CCTVs, power meters, and smart fans, among others.
Mindgrove had earlier raised $2.32 million in a seed funding round led by Peak XV Partners and Speciale Invest in May 2023.
The latest fundraise comes at a time when investor interest in homegrown semiconductor startups is surging. In December, venture capital firm growX ventures announced its second fund with a target corpus of INR 400 crore, focusing on semiconductor startups. Other players, such as Netrasemi and C2i Semiconductors, have also recently secured funding.
The development aligns with India’s ongoing efforts to establish itself as a global semiconductor hub. Under the India Semiconductor Mission, the government has approved five semiconductor plants, which are expected to attract investments worth INR 1.52 lakh crore.
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