IC Mask Design News
December 2003
Designs on Semiconductor Success
By Paul Golden (IT's Monday) 15th December, 2003.
The increase in outsourcing activity among semiconductor firms has helped Limerick-based design services firm IC Mask Design double its business in little more than a year. The company plans to build on this growth by providing silicon IP and is also considering a move into product development.
Fergal Brosnan set up IC Mask Design with Maurice Harkin and Ciaran Whyte in April 2002 after all three had worked together at Parthus Technologies. He says their experience in Parthus (and before that with Analog Devices) showed them there was an opening in the market for a pure semiconductor design services company.
"Our customers are typically semiconductor design companies, although we also work with some IP companies," explained Managing Director Brosnan. "In the case of the major semiconductor firms we are augmenting their in-house resources, while start-up firms can outsource all their design requirements to us. For our IP customers we are basically bridging the gap between 'soft' product and silicon. However, we are not a manufacturing company."
IC Mask Design claims to be the only firm in Ireland offering this type of service and Brosnan is quick to point out that it provides a complimentary rather than competing service to multinationals such as Ceva. A number of Fortune 500 companies are among its customer base, including Motorola Semiconductor Ireland, for whom it has just completed physical design of complex analog IP for use in the next generation communications chipset for Motorola's mobile technology.
Headquartered in the National Technological Park's Innovation Centre with an engineering facility in Blanchardstown, IC Mask Design currently employs five full time staff. Additional resources are drawn from a pool of specialist skilled contractors with Brosnan admitting that the downturn in the industry has benefited the business by making it much easier to source qualified engineers.
Revenue figures have not been disclosed but he says sales grew by 110 per cent in the last 12 months and expects 50-60 per cent growth over the next year. Staffing levels are projected to rise to 10 by the end of next year and beyond that to a maximum of around 20 as the company expands into other areas. Brosnan was reluctant to go into too much detail about future plans but did confirm that product development is one of the options being considered.
IC Mask Design has been financed through personal investment from the three founders together with start-up funding from Shannon Development. The level of investment has not been disclosed, but Brosnan says the company is fully funded and does not currently require additional investment. "If we go down the product development route we will look at bringing in external funds," he said, "but we are growing organically and have no immediate acquisition plans."
About IC Mask Design
IC Mask Design is an industry leader in the provision of Physical Design Services and Software Solutions to the semiconductor industry. The company’s services encompass IC Layout and Training Programs, delivering expertise in Analog, RF, mixed-signal and digital design using the latest tools from leading EDA vendors. IC Mask Design also provides training courses covering the complete spectrum of physical design. Its Analog Layout Acceleration Platform aims to dramatically reduce analog layout design cycle time whilst producing optimal quality layout structures which incorporate circuit functionality requirements and process artefacts.
Further information is available from IC Mask Design's web site.
For more details, please contact:
Fergal BrosnanTel: +353 (0)61 448 530
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