Mindgrove Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the first commercial deployment of its Vision SoC chip, tailor made for CCTV surveillance cameras and other security systems.
Under the agreement, the Chennai-based start-up will supply its indigenously designed chip to Prama India Private Ltd, a video security and surveillance technology company for its security product portfolio.
Speaking to businessline, Shashwath TR, Co-founder and CEO of Mindgrove Technologies said that the agreement currently includes an indicative procurement volume and value without revealing the exact figures.
“It is a trial volume which gives us the ability to plan out an initial deployment and use it as a basis for forward demand projections to foundry. As we go into deployment, we will dial in the volumes better,” he said.
Vision SoC is Mindgrove’s second proprietary chip funded under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (Meity) Design Linked Incentive scheme. The chip is currently in the late development stages with prototyping targeted by the end of 2026 and full commercial deployment expected in Q2 or Q3 of 2027.
Shashwath added that the Vision SoC chip adds upon the firm’s previous Secure IoT chips by including features like , support for higher-resolution image formats, image signal processor (ISP) and a video codec while also being much faster with a targeted speed of 1000 MHz.
semiconductor supply chain
On the semiconductor supply chain, Shashwath mentions that while foundry availability continues to be uneven, an even bigger bottleneck now lies in packaging.
“Unlike conventional microcontrollers that use cheaper lead-frame packaging, the Vision SoC requires substrate-based packaging, which competes for capacity with AI chips and high-bandwidth memory products. This has pushed lead times are through the roof,” he said
On memory, he said that suppliers are prioritising high-bandwidth memory for AI applications over the types used in IoT devices which has pushed Mindgrove to explore ways to use less memory and alternative memory technologies even reviving. “We are even looking at decade old research to see if we can do more with less,” he said.
Meanwhile the company’s earlier Secure IoT chip has seen a delay in deployments due to the current supply chain challenges, Shashwath said.
In terms of the funding he added that while the company is now focusing on the commercial deployments before raising fresh capital which will eventually help secure better valuations.
“By combining Mindgrove’s semiconductor design expertise with Prama’s extensive experience in video security, product engineering, compliance, and large-scale deployments, we aim to develop world-class solutions that are secure, scalable, and globally competitive,” said Ashish P. Dhakan, Managing Director & CEO, Prama India.