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On June 18, 2025, the Zephyr Project announced that Renesas and Wind River had upgraded to Platinum membership, while Blecon and Embeint joined at the Silver tier. The change brought hardware, embedded software, Bluetooth-to-cloud connectivity and low-power IoT interests into the project’s membership; it did not make the four companies members at the same tier.
What changed in Zephyr Project membership?
Zephyr is an open-source real-time operating system project hosted by the Linux Foundation. It is designed for connected devices with constrained resources. In its June 18, 2025 announcement, the project said Renesas and Wind River had moved to Platinum membership and that Blecon and Embeint had joined as Silver members. Zephyr Project’s June 18, 2025 announcement
| Company | Membership change | Focus described in the announcement |
|---|---|---|
| Renesas | Upgraded to Platinum | Microcontrollers and microprocessors, with embedded processing, analog, power and connectivity expertise |
| Wind River | Upgraded to Platinum | Embedded software; a founding member that had contributed since Zephyr’s 2016 launch |
| Blecon | Joined as Silver | Bluetooth connectivity between physical products and cloud applications |
| Embeint | Joined as Silver | Firmware for ultra-low-power LPWAN IoT devices, using machine learning and artificial intelligence |
What Platinum membership meant in this announcement
The June 2025 release said Renesas Vice President and General Manager Aish Dubey and Wind River Chief Technology Officer Paul Miller would join the Zephyr Project Governing Board. That governance detail is distinct from the companies’ technical contributions or product capabilities: membership status alone does not demonstrate that a particular device, firmware package or product meets a technical or regulatory requirement.
Renesas had joined the project in 2024, according to the announcement. Dubey said the company upgraded to help make open-source RTOS solutions broadly accessible, including in high-performance computing. Wind River was already a founding member; the project characterized its Platinum upgrade as a way to deepen collaboration. These are the companies’ and project’s stated rationales, not evidence of a measured change in adoption or performance.
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- Flexible MCU Board: Incorporate the ESP32-C3 32-bit RISC-V chip, operating up to 160 MHz, mounted multiple development ports,
- Developer Friendly: Compatible with Arduino IDE, MicroPython, CircuitPython, PlatformIO, ESP IDF, Zephyr, Matter, ESPNow, Meshtastic, WLED, ESPHome, Home Assistant, Ubidots
- Outstanding RF performance: Complete Wi-Fi functions and Bluetooth Low Energy, while supporting communication over 100m with anFL antenna
- Elaborate Power Design: 4 working modes as low as 44 μA in deep sleep mode, while supporting lithium battery charge management
- Thumb-sized Design: 21 x 17.5mm, Seeed Studio XIAO series classic form factor
What the new Silver members said they bring
Blecon: Bluetooth-to-cloud connectivity
The announcement described Blecon as enabling physical products to connect to cloud applications over Bluetooth without custom infrastructure. Co-founder Donatien Garnier pointed to Zephyr’s software, tooling and hardware support as a foundation for Blecon-enabled IoT products. This is Blecon’s description of its offering and rationale; the announcement does not independently evaluate product performance or security.
Embeint: low-power LPWAN firmware
The project described Embeint’s focus as firmware using machine learning and artificial intelligence for ultra-low-power LPWAN IoT devices. CEO and co-founder Phil Valencia said the company’s Infuse-IoT SDK builds on Zephyr. That statement identifies the company’s claimed relationship to the operating system, not a third-party assessment of the SDK.
Rank #2
- CH32V003 Development Minimum System Board for Nano RISC-V CH32V003F4U6 Chip TYPE-C USB 22Pin
- on-board 24MHz Crystal oscillator
- Power by TYPE-C USB
Why the expansion matters—and what it does not establish
The four membership changes span several layers of the embedded-device ecosystem: silicon and embedded processing, established embedded software, Bluetooth-to-cloud services, and low-power wide-area network firmware. That mix can broaden the organizations participating in Zephyr’s development and governance. It does not, by itself, establish that Zephyr is suitable for a specific product, that a member’s product is compatible with a given board, or that any organization complies with a regulation.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe June 2025 announcement connected the ecosystem’s growth with security and the European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). This was the Linux Foundation’s framing of the importance of collaboration; membership in Zephyr should not be treated as proof that a company or product satisfies CRA obligations. Compliance depends on the applicable product, organization and legal requirements.
Rank #3
- The ESP32-C3 SUPERMINI is positioned as a high-performance, low-power, cost-effective IoT mini development board, suitable for low-power IoT applications and wireless wearable applications
- It is equipped with a rich set of interfaces, including 11 digital I/Os that can be used as PWM pins and 4 analog I/Os that can be used as ADC pins.
- It supports four serial interfaces, including UART, I2C, and SPI.
- The ESP32-C3 features a 32-bit RISC-V CPU, including an FPU (Floating Point Unit) capable of 32-bit single-precision
- Package: 2PCS ESP32-C3 MINI Development Board ESP32 SuperMini ESP32 C3 WiFi Module
Zephyr hardware breadth in context
In the same June 18, 2025 announcement, the Zephyr Project reported support for more than 750 boards and listed Arm, RISC-V, Tensilica, Renesas RX, ARC and x86 among supported processor architectures. The board figure is the project’s dated claim, not an independently audited current total. It indicates breadth, but does not mean every board has identical feature coverage or is suitable for every application. Zephyr Project announcement and platform context
The announcement also noted that Zephyr 4.1 launched in March 2025. Neither that version reference nor the board count should be read as a current compatibility guarantee for an individual product; developers should check the relevant board and version documentation for their project.
Rank #4
- ESP32-C6 WiFi 6 microcontroller development board adopts ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N8 module, which is equipped with RISC-V 32-bit single-core processor, up to 160MHz main frequency, built-in 8MB Flash
- Integrates WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5 and and IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee 3.0 and Thread) wireless communication, with superior RF performance
- Integrates rich peripherals including SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, LED PWM, SDIO and other interfaces, compatible with the pinout of ESP32-C6-DevKitC-1-N8 development board, more convenient to use and expand a variety of peripheral modules
- Onboard CH343 and CH334 USB HUB chips, supports USB and UART development at the same time via a USB-C port
- Comes with online examples and tutorials for ESP-IDF development environment
Membership status remained visible in 2026
Later official project material continued to list Renesas and Wind River among Platinum members in a September 3, 2026 announcement, and Blecon and Embeint among Silver members in a January 2026 membership overview. These are status references in those dated project materials, rather than a claim about membership beyond the dates shown. Zephyr Project’s September 3, 2026 announcement Zephyr Project overview
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What developers should check before choosing Zephyr hardware
The membership news does not compare development boards or recommend a specific model. When evaluating hardware for a Zephyr project, check the exact board’s support, processor architecture, required peripherals, debugging connection, power needs and vendor documentation. Confirm support for the Zephyr version and features your product requires rather than relying on a general board-count figure.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Ample PSRAM Storage – The development board offers 8MB PSRAM, providing substantial extra memory for handling more complex tasks, large data buffers, and advanced processing.
- Enhanced Multi-Tasking Capability – With the additional 8MB PSRAM, the ESP32-C5-WIFI6-KIT can efficiently manage multiple protocol stacks simultaneously, ensuring smooth operation in multi-tasking IoT environments.
- Support for Medium-Load Applications – The 8MB PSRAM allows the ESP32-C5 to handle medium-load applications more effectively, making it ideal for scenarios requiring real-time data processing or continuous communication.
- Seamless Performance – The increased memory improves the overall performance and responsiveness of the device, particularly when running applications with larger memory footprints or more demanding computations.
- Future-Proof for Complex Projects – With 8MB of PSRAM, developers are better equipped to build scalable, high-performance solutions that support both current and future IoT use cases, offering flexibility for future-proofing designs.
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