Fraunhofer spin-off offers modern electronics development software

Every other microchip manufactured in Europe comes from Dresden, Germany. This made it only logical for Karsten Einwich, one of the two managing directors of COSEDA Technologies, to choose that city as the location for the recently founded company - a spin-off of Fraunhofer ISS/EAS.

“Here in the largest microelectronics location on the continent, we have our Fraunhofer roots and find an outstanding network of start-ups and research institutions,” explains the engineer. “The market for design software may be dominated around the world by just a few large companies, but we have the ability to react much more flexibly to special wishes and requirements of our customers, especially those in Europe.”

This is an important niche, particularly for products with the highest quality requirements, as are found for example in vehicles or telecommunications. In order to offer its design software to companies in the United States and Asia as well, COSEDA Technologies is currently building up a network of local sales partners.

In contrast to standard offerings on the world market, the company’s technological platform features an especially broad scope of functionality for systems consisting of analogue and digital components, hardware and software. This expertise was acquired by Karsten Einwich and his team at Fraunhofer IIS/EAS through many years of collaboration with leading semiconductor manufacturers. During this time, the development of ICs without the use of design tools has become inconceivable.

Current manufacturing technologies present particularly large challenges that must be overcome in order to achieve a reliable chip design. As one of the largest European research institutions in the area of design automation, Fraunhofer IIS/EAS has therefore developed software for various tasks in this area.

One of these software tools is the development platform COSIDE, which is now the starting point for the business of the Fraunhofer spin-off COSEDA Technologies. This platform contains various modeling and simulation technologies based on an industry standard and resulting from co-operation with the European microelectronics industry. COSEDA Technologies is now the first provider in the world to sell commercial software based on this standard that companies can use for system concepts as well as innovative, high-performance and yet inexpensive products.

Karsten Einwich is convinced that the company's approach will be successful. “Our founding team consists initially of a few highly specialized experts. In addition, we still have Fraunhofer backing us up, and we will be able to work very closely with our former employer in the future,” explains the managing director. “This way we can ensure that customers requiring more extensive support and services are able to receive these through Fraunhofer IIS/EAS. We will also pass the direct feedback of our customers on to the institute so that future research can be closely tied to the needs of the industry.”

The spinning off of COSEDA Technologies GmbH is being supported within the program “Fraunhofer supports start-ups” as well as by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy within the framework of the EXIST research transfer. This is cofinanced with funds from the European Social Fund.