Semiconductor founder hits back at Piyush Goyal’s ‘ice cream or chips’ remark

semiconductor startup founder has issued a strong rebuttal to Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent criticism of Indian consumer internet startups, highlighting the challenges faced by deep-tech entrepreneurs in India.
At Startup Mahakumbh 2025, Goyal had taken a swipe at the direction many startups were heading, saying, “Do we have to make ice cream or chips? Dukaandari hi karna hai?” His comments suggested a preference for innovation in areas like semiconductors over consumer-facing ventures such as food delivery or boutique D2C products.

Also Read: Zepto's Aadit Palicha, Mohandas Pai react to Piyush Goyal's comments on Indian startups

In response, a founder who claims to have previously worked at Intel and launched a semiconductor venture in 2018 took to Reddit’s r/StartUpIndia forum to share his experience. In a detailed post, he painted a bleak picture of the systemic and institutional hurdles that hardware startups face in the country.

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“We are a semiconductor startup. Started in 2018. Stopped wasting our time trying to get Indian clients—private sector, government or defence,” he wrote. He described the procurement process as discouraging and non-committal, citing repeated instances where officials responded to proposals with statements like: “You build it, then we’ll decide,” or “We won’t buy—go find whether there is a market for this.”

The founder argued that such vague responses make it nearly impossible for deep-tech ventures to take meaningful risks or attract investment. “No startup will