By Anindita Nayak
Bhubaneswar, 17 May, 2024
The semiconductor industry is crucial globally for electronics, defense, and security. While India has initiated a $15 billion Semiconductor Mission, the US has enacted the $208 billion CHIPS Act, and China plans a $1.4 trillion investment in its semiconductor sector. India aims to produce both semiconductors and the necessary manufacturing equipment, continuing a focus that began with the 1976 establishment of the Semi-Conductor Laboratory in Punjab. Indian startups are addressing domestic and global needs, bolstered by the 2021 Semicon India programme, which allocated Rs 76,000 crore to support various semiconductor-related enterprises.
We curate five semiconductor startups in India, which are doing pioneering work in the sector.
FermionIC Design
Founded in 2020 in Bengaluru, FermionIC Design is a fabless semiconductor startup focused on developing ICs for high-speed wireline and RF communication markets. Its portfolio includes a SiGe beamformer core chip for X-band millimeter-wave communications, a multiprotocol SERDES IP supporting up to 32GBps NRZ data rates, and a hybrid beamformer IC for 5G, SATCOM, and radar applications. The mixed signal product family features ultra-low-noise LDO ICs, low-phase noise crystal oscillators, and SerDes products. Founded by Gautam Kumar Singh, Prasun Bhattacharyya, Abhra Bagchi, and Shabaaz Syed, FermionIC is bootstrapped and serves multiple global and Indian OEM customers.
Mindgrove Technologies
Founded in 2021 and incubated at IIT Madras, Chennai-based Mindgrove Technologies is a semiconductor startup specializing in the design and production of SoCs. Using indigenous RISC-V Shakti cores, the startup launched India’s first commercial high-performance SoC, Secure IoT, which is aimed at consumer electronics such as TVs, washing machines, air conditioners, and refrigerators. Secure IoT features security accelerators, a true random number generator, and one-time programmable memory. Founded by Shashwath T R and Sharan Srinivas J, Mindgrove Technologies secured $2.32 million in seed funding in 2023, led by Peak XV Partners, with additional investment from Speciale Invest and Whiteboard Capital.
Morphing Machines
Morphing Machines, founded in 2005 through the Technology Entrepreneurship initiative of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, is a fabless semiconductor startup specializing in IP products and solutions. Its patented platform, ‘REDEFINE,’ is a many-core SoC that can instantiate domain-specific architectures (DSAs) for mixed-critical application tasks on demand. The company offers dynamic instantiations, compute nodes with 4 cores and 512 KB on-chip memory, and ASICs, supporting applications in avionics, automotive, telecom, and HPC. It excels in developing accelerators for AI, ML, 5G, 6G, and drug discovery, compatible with processors from Intel, ARM, or RISC-V, enhancing performance and reducing power consumption by up to tenfold. Their technology also accelerates applications in big data analytics, genome analytics, AR/VR, and immersive gaming.
The startup has received support from the DLI and Chips2Startup schemes by MeitY. Founded by Dr. S.K. Nandy, Dr. Ranjani Narayan, and Deepak Shapeti, Morphing Machines remains bootstrapped and aims to play a significant role in strengthening India’s semiconductor ecosystem.
Oakter
Founded in 2015 by an IIT Delhi team, Oakter, an Original Device Manufacturer (ODM), swiftly rose to prominence in the smart plugs market. Notably, it became Amazon Alexa’s launch partner in India in 2017. Shifting gears in 2019, Oakter transitioned to contract manufacturing, catering to B2B orders from industry giants like Sony, Saregama, and Syska. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Oakter collaborated with DRDO to produce safety products. Embracing new technologies, it partnered with ElectricPe to develop EV charge points. With a focus on innovation and customization, Oakter has garnered support from investors like IndiaQuotient and Binny Bansal, amassing over $500K in funding.
Sankhya Labs
Established in 2007, Saankhya Labs, headquartered in Bengaluru, stands as India’s premier fabless semiconductor solutions provider, specializing in integrated circuits (ICs) for satellite and broadcast applications. Renowned for pioneering feats such as the world’s inaugural production of Software Defined Radios (SDR) chipsets, the company caters to diverse sectors including 5G, direct-to-mobile broadcast, rural broadband, and IoT satellite communication modems. Founded by Parag Naik, Vishwakumara Kayargadde, and Hemant Mallapur, it operates as a subsidiary of Tejas Networks. Previous backers include industry giants Intel and General Motors. Recently, Saankhya Labs secured approval from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for the semiconductor Design Linked Incentive scheme, affirming its commitment to innovation in telecom infrastructure. With an estimated funding of approximately $18 million, Saankhya Labs continues to lead India’s semiconductor landscape with groundbreaking solutions.
