Ceremorphic building technology that will be employed in HPC: Dr. Venkat Mattela

Ceremorphic has built a new architecture that delivers the performance required for next generation applications such as AI model training, HPC, drug discovery and metaverse processing. Designed in tune with advanced silicon geometry, our architecture solves high-performance computing needs in reliability, security and power consumption at scale.

Ceremorphic is backed by an extensive patent portfolio and in-house R&D expertise, creating a new computing paradigm that will move the industry forward for many years to come.

Dr. Venkat Mattela, Founder and CEO of Ceremorphic, tells us more. Excerpts from an interview:

DQ: Elaborate on the current situation of the Make in India scheme.

Dr. Venkat Mattela: With the global chip shortage and geopolitical difficulties in Taiwan, India is the youngest kid on the block to have jumped into the semiconductor manufacturing business. With the INR 76,000-crore incentive package, India has taken a giant step towards bringing semiconductor and display fab manufacturing to the country; and alongside goals of creating 100 million manufacturing jobs by 2022, boosting the sector's contribution to GDP to 25% by 2025, and ensuring an annual growth rate of 12-14%, ‘Make-in-India’ scheme by the government as an endeavor, is indeed well-thought-out and a move in the right direction.

With over half of the labour force still reliant on agriculture, manufacturing growth is the only way to offer large-scale, respectable job prospects for a young labour force entering the market. There is no doubt about the fact that the government is committed to steadfast this growth and get India onto the world map of semiconductors. It’s an exciting time to be a part of this fast-growing ecosystem. We, at Ceremorphic, are thrilled about all that lies ahead.

DQ: What is your contribution to the sector in India?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: The recent PLI strategy for the semiconductor industry is quite promising. The government is trying to create an integrated ecosystem for the chip manufacturing business, and thereby, attract semiconductor investments into the country. We have always been a strong supporter of similar initiatives, and I am actively involved in the process wherever necessary.

Ceremorphic is doing its bit and assisting in the development of India's promising semiconductor ecosystem, by way of two aspects: talent and infrastructure. In the current environment, talent is never an issue, but the infrastructure and the past proven experience are key to achieving any meaningful outcome at scale.

In both of those areas, the ecosystem is developing. I am optimistic that many big accomplishments will be seen in this sector shortly. Ceremorphic is building technology that will be employed in high-performance computing for decades to come, and we will assess the opportunity as we move forward with development and manufacturing. Currently, we are concentrating on building a unique solution to answer primary difficulties of a high-performance market.

However, the most difficult aspect of this plan is creating jobs. It is great to see that SMEs are also being urged to take initiative in some sectors where the investment and turnover targets are not very high. At Ceremorphic, we will continue to collaborate closely with state and federal governments to identify mutually beneficial initiatives.

DQ: What is your offering for the local and global markets?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: Ceremorphic was created in April 2020, but its R&D work began three years earlier. It is now a mature supercomputing technology company with a 150-person management and technical staff that is seasoned and well-competent. In the TSMC 5nm node, we are designing a supercomputing processor with remarkable reliability and energy efficiency.

With the current status of the company, including its technological portfolio, product design strategy, and client sample for the following year (2023), the company has the resources to effectively develop a product. The cost of developing such a chip would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the company wants to work with the right people at the right time to partner with.

We have a development center in Hyderabad, India, and are also based out of the Silicon Valley. The product is being created in the United States and India and will be offered all over the world.

Ceremorphic's current technology portfolio and the design of QS1 will address the issues of reliability and energy efficiency, paving the way for an architecture capable of achieving Exascale performance while maintaining a reasonable power budget. Ceremorphic’s method will also make high-performance computing systems more inexpensive, allowing AI and machine learning applications to become more widespread.

R&D and product development are heavily influenced by India's development. Our India centre is involved in the creation of architecture, algorithms, semiconductor design, and software tools. With Learning and producing at a high level as critical pillars, we at Ceremorphic are totally devoted to achieving them.

DQ: As the funding slows down, how can start-ups building for India keep pace?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: Companies should reconsider their business approach in order to focus on larger clientele that can afford to pay a high price for their start-up’s services. Entrepreneurs are adjusting company models, pausing growth to focus on core activities, and making the best of the situation by employing people with more reasonable pay packages. Expenses, naturally, are reduced.

Focus on key business strengths rather than experiments; decrease marketing efforts; and maximise customer experience because happy customers will stick around even in hard times.

The goal is to recognise that downturns and upturns are a natural aspect of business, and that strong enterprises can thrive on a shoestring budget. To gain the trust of employees, customers, and potential investors, it is critical to be upfront about financials.

DQ: With the global supply chain hindrance and Make in India still taking off, how should one manage semiconductors shortage, raw material shortage and hardware shortage?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: When chip shortages forced the shutdown of automotive production lines in 2021, the semiconductor industry was brought to light for the first time. The semiconductor shortage was caused by plenty of issues.

In addition to long-standing industry difficulties including limited capacity at semiconductor fabs, the Covid-19 pandemic presented unique obstacles as well. For example, as vehicle sales dropped in early 2020, automakers reduced their chip orders. The semiconductor industry has already relocated production lines to fulfil the demand for other applications when demand recovered quicker than expected in the second half of 2020. To now mitigate the impact of global supply-chain disruptions, the government is increasing its investment in semiconductor technology.

In addition to boosting manufacturing capacity, semiconductor companies could take several initiatives to maintain growth and meet consumer demand. They could pursue more mergers and acquisitions and collaborations to get that competitive advantage in profitable markets and grow their client base.

Semiconductor firms may also expand their investments in cutting-edge technologies that will aid in the development of cutting-edge chips for driverless vehicles, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and other high-growth areas. During these unpredictable times, more adaptive strategies are crucial.