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Arm, Taiwan's ITRI join force to help IC design startups grow

Monica Chen, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES Asia 0

Credit: DIGITIMES

Arm is partnering with Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to develop an ecosystem platform available for international IC design startups looking to invest in Taiwan.

A press event was held September 7 to detail the partnership, with CK Tseng, president of Arm Taiwan, also participating.

The ecosystem platform will bring together Arm's silicon IPs and ITRI's technology portfolios and other resources, designed to help IC design startups speed up time-to-market for their products and increase competitiveness, according to Chih-I Wu, VP and general director of ITRI's electronic and optoelectronic system research laboratories.

The platform will also assist international IC design startups in investing in Taiwan, which will in turn further accelerate the evolution of the industry ecosystem, Wu indicated. The ecosystem involves over 1,000 partners of Arm, and Taiwan's IC and hardware OEM/ODM industry supply chains.

Besides, through its partnership with Arm, ITRI is looking to promote Taiwan as a regional hub for semiconductor industry ecosystem, according to Wu.

Through Arm Flexible Access for Startups, Arm gives early-stage startups a rapid and cost-efficient route to prototype silicon and helps them secure the next round of funding, Tseng noted. The program includes technical support and IPs required for CPU, GPU and other chip designs, and has more than 40 customers registered covering areas such as IoT, AI at the edge, autonomous vehicles and medical wearables.

Being part of the ecosystem platform initiated by Taiwan's ITRI will allow Arm's crucial IPs to power more competitive products and help Taiwan's IC design sector expand its global presence, according to Tseng.