Mindgrove Technologies has entered into a commercial partnership with Pinetics to integrate locally designed chips into finished electronic products, marking a step forward in India’s push to build a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem.

The two-year agreement will see Mindgrove’s system-on-chip (SoC) solutions embedded into biometric access control systems, smart locks and camera-based applications, with plans to expand into more product categories over time. The collaboration is significant as it bridges a long-standing gap between chip design and end-product manufacturing in India.

Bridging the chip-to-product gap

Despite strong capabilities in PCB design and electronics assembly, India has historically relied on imported semiconductor components. This partnership aims to change that by enabling a system-on-module (SoM) ecosystem built on domestically designed silicon, giving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) access to indigenous chip solutions for the first time at the product level.

Pinetics will design and develop modules around Mindgrove’s chips, extending their application into deployable solutions. The move is expected to strengthen vertical integration in India’s electronics value chain, where the transition from chip design to finished goods has remained limited.

“This partnership reflects real industry adoption of Indian semiconductor capabilities,” said Shashwath TR, co-founder and CEO of Mindgrove Technologies. “Embedding domestic chips into products used daily can accelerate the entire ecosystem.”

Boost to domestic semiconductor ecosystem

Mindgrove’s Secure IoT SoC, built on a 28nm process and operating at 700 MHz, is already production-ready for applications such as biometric devices, smart meters and point-of-sale machines. The company is also developing a Vision SoC, supported under the government’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, targeting high-performance edge and vision-based use cases including CCTV systems, dashcams and smart TVs.

Navin Goyal, co-founder and CEO of Pinetics, said access to locally developed chips would help reduce supply chain risks and improve turnaround time for product development. “For product firms, chips have been the hardest component to localise. This changes that dynamic,” he said.

The partnership comes at a time when India is aiming to scale up its semiconductor ecosystem, with a focus on reducing import dependence and building end-to-end capabilities from design to deployment.