18-year-old starts semiconductor venture in Gujarat, plans Rs 80 crore factory

At 18, most people are still deciding what they want to study or what career they want to pursue. Ahmedabad-based Rehan Mansuri, however, is already building a semiconductor manufacturing business. According to ANI, his startup Micronex is setting up a factory in Gujarat’s Sanand with an initial investment of Rs 80 crore to manufacture lead frames, an important component used in chip packaging.Construction of the facility has already started, with production expected to begin by May 2027. In its first phase, the factory is planned to produce 50 crore lead-frame units a year and create around 250 direct jobs once it becomes operational.Micronex recently signed an MoU with Kaynes Semicon at Semicon India 2026 in New Delhi. The agreement could open an opportunity for the startup to supply its components to semiconductor manufacturers. The company also plans to apply under the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 programme.What will the 18-year-old's company make?A lead frame is a thin metal structure that holds a semiconductor chip and helps connect it to the outside circuit. Fine gold or copper wires connect the chip to the frame, which is then connected to a circuit board. Micronex plans to make copper-alloy lead frames with thicknesses ranging from 0.1mm to 0.25mm. The products will initially be aimed at the power electronics and automotive sectors, before the company expands into consumer electronics and telecom.Mansuri said the idea came from spotting a gap in India's semiconductor supply chain. The company wants to manufacture the components locally so that chipmakers can work directly with it on tooling, samples and design changes, while also reducing the time involved in importing them. Mansuri comes from a business family involved in plastic waste recycling and has been exposed to the sector from an early age. His entry into semiconductor manufacturing comes as Gujarat continues to attract investments across different parts of the chip supply chain.Rehan is not the only young tech entrepreneurMansuri's age may make his project unusual, but young people taking on complex technology projects is not entirely new.One recent example is 12-year-old Mana Jampala from British Columbia, Canada. Jampala founded Voxa, an AI-powered receptionist that can answer business calls, book appointments and handle other customer interactions. She launched it in November 2025 after noticing that her father's workplace was missing calls from customers.Jampala began learning programming through Scratch camps and later taught herself Python. She initially used ChatGPT to work on parts of Voxa's code before moving to Anthropic's Claude. She told Business Insider that she preferred breaking the project into smaller pieces of code, testing each part and fixing problems as she went.- Ends