Mindgrove Technologies, an IIT Madras spinout backed by Peak XV Partners and Speciale Invest, has formally launched Scenix, India's first commercially available RISC-V based microcontroller unit operating at 700 MHz on a 28nm process node and targeting IoT, industrial automation, and smart metering applications with pricing up to 30 percent lower than comparable ARM Cortex-M class microcontrollers.
Semicon Hunt -> product-launch -> Mindgrove Technologies
2026-08-18
Mindgrove Technologies, a semiconductor startup spun out of IIT Madras, has formally launched the Scenix chip, marking India's first entry into the commercial microcontroller unit (MCU) market. The Scenix is built on a RISC-V open instruction-set architecture and operates at 700 MHz using a 28nm fabrication process, placing it competitively against Arm Cortex-M4 and M33 class devices that currently dominate the Indian embedded systems market. The launch is a landmark event for India's chip ambitions and demonstrates that domestic startups can now compete on silicon rather than just design services.
The Scenix MCU integrates a high-performance RISC-V core with support for standard peripheral interfaces including SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, and ADC blocks, making it suitable for consumer electronics, industrial automation, EV charging infrastructure, smart meters, and IoT edge nodes. The chip is fabricated on TSMC 28nm process technology, enabling a combination of low power consumption and high clock speed that is uncommon among Indian-designed silicon products. Mindgrove claims a cost advantage of up to 30 percent compared to equivalent imported MCUs from vendors such as ST Microelectronics and NXP, which is significant for Indian OEMs seeking to reduce bill-of-materials costs while maintaining performance parity with global alternatives.
Mindgrove was founded by researchers and alumni from IIT Madras, one of India's premier engineering institutions and home to the SHAKTI processor project that helped establish a domestic RISC-V research ecosystem. The company raised institutional funding from Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia Capital India, and Speciale Invest, both of which have concentrated portfolios in deep-technology and semiconductor-adjacent ventures. The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme administered by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology provided structured support to Mindgrove during its tape-out and product commercialisation phase, validating the government-to-startup channel as an effective accelerator for Indian chip product companies. This combination of academic origin, institutional investment, and government backing represents a template that other Indian semiconductor startups are expected to follow.
India imports roughly eight billion dollars worth of semiconductor components annually, with microcontrollers constituting a material share of that import bill. The Scenix launch directly addresses a segment where no Indian commercial product previously existed, creating an import substitution opportunity for OEMs in automotive, home appliance, defence electronics, and smart agriculture sectors. Industry observers note that a domestically designed MCU at competitive price points could enable Indian hardware manufacturers to reduce procurement lead times, mitigate supply chain disruptions of the kind seen during the 2021 global chip shortage, and qualify for government procurement preferences under the Make-in-India and Phased Manufacturing Programme frameworks.
The Scenix product launch is widely regarded as a proof-of-concept for India's full-stack semiconductor capability, demonstrating that Indian startups can own silicon intellectual property, manage foundry relationships, and bring a commercial product to market independently. Mindgrove is expected to showcase the Scenix at SEMICON India 2026, scheduled for September at New Delhi's Yashobhoomi convention centre, where the company is likely to announce additional product variants targeting secure IoT and automotive-grade MCU segments. The launch also adds momentum to India's open-architecture chip community, with the RISC-V ecosystem in India growing rapidly across academia, government research labs, and venture-backed startups alike.
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