New Delhi, Aug. 23 -- Chennai: Shashwath T. R., co-founder and chief executive of Chennai-based semiconductor startup Mindgrove Technologies, sounds hopeful.

"Our chip is out of the lab," he says. "We are coming out of the lab and into the industry."

Since late 2024, Mindgrove's engineers have been chasing a singular goal: perfecting a dedicated 'vision system-on-chip' tailored for security hardware. That persistence scored its first breakthrough this June, when the five-year-old venture struck an alliance with Prama India to integrate its homegrown silicon directly into the domestic company's CCTV cameras and surveillance networks.

What created an opening for Mindgrove was a policy change in CCTV rules. In April 2024, the Indian gover...