Chennai-based Mindgrove Technologies Raises $8 Million in Series A Funding

Fabless semiconductor design startup Mindgrove Technologies has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Rocketship.vc and Speciale Invest. The round also saw participation from Mela Ventures, existing investors Peak XV Partners, Nishchay Goel, and Whiteboard Capital, along with new investor Anshul Goel.

The funds will be used to expand Mindgrove’s workforce, boost its in-house engineering capabilities, and accelerate the production and sales of its first chip. “The recent investment and the DLI scheme reaffirm confidence in our thesis and capabilities,” said Shashwath T R, CEO of Mindgrove Technologies.

Earlier this year, Mindgrove introduced Secure IoT, India’s first commercial-grade high-performance microcontroller System-on-Chip (SoC) taped out at 28nm. Designed for smart devices such as watches, meters, locks, and access controls, as well as printers and PoS machines, the chip is expected to hit the market by mid-2025.

Mindgrove also secured INR 15 crore under the Indian government’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme to develop Vision SoC, a high-performance edge computing chip aimed at applications like CCTV cameras, dashcams, ADAS, and smart TVs. The company has plans for releasing a prototype for its Vision SoC by next year, or another 12 months. 

Read: India’s Fabless Semiconductor Supply Chain is Far from Fabulous

“Mindgrove Technologies represents the future of India’s technology sector,” said Sailesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Partner at Rocketship.vc. “We are excited to support their journey towards technological excellence with innovation, scalability, and execution.”

Speciale Invest’s managing partner Vishesh Rajaram highlighted the significance of Mindgrove’s work, saying, “Their Secure IoT SoC exemplifies innovation and cost-efficiency. With DLI scheme approval, Mindgrove is now developing a second RISC-V SoC to address global demand for high-performance edge computing and video processing solutions.”

The company plans to expand its team across business, engineering, product, and applications departments, aiming to solidify its position in India’s growing semiconductor landscape.