Arm Launches Free Support & IP Access Program for Early-Stage Silicon Startups
U.K. semiconductor design firm Arm is launching a new program that helps young silicon startups get their chip designs to market faster.
Arm’s new Flexible Access for Startups program opens up the availability of the company’s IP, tools, and training to early-stage companies on the road toward commercialization. The offering is an extension of Arm’s existing Flexible Access program, which offers entry-level and standard-level tiers to larger companies for $75,000 and $200,000 per year, respectively.
Image courtesy of ARM.
With Flexible Access for Startups, silicon companies with less than $5 million in funding can get access to the entry-level tier at no cost. The program offers access to Arm’s SoC (system-on-a-chip) IP portfolio, free licensing for prototype development, as well as online design training seats and support from Arm engineers.
The IP portfolio includes Arm’s family of cortex processors, mali multimedia processors, security platforms, CoreLink Interconnect systems controllers, peripheral controllers, CoreSight debug and trace platforms, physical products, virtual system models and safety packages.
The company claims that its access program can reduce total development costs by 52%, while also removing six months off the process—both crucial factors in a competitive industry where the time and money needed to develop a prototype heavily influence a company’s market potential.
Dipti Vachani, senior vice president and general manager of Arm’s automotive and IoT business unit, said in a news release that the Flexible Access for Startups program offers new silicon companies a quicker and cost-efficient resource as they develop a prototype, boosting their appeal to investors.
“In today’s challenging business landscape, enabling innovation is critical,” Vachani adds. “Now more than ever, startups with brilliant ideas need the fastest, most trusted route to success and scale.”
On the same day that Arm unveiled the Flexible Access for Startups launch, it also announced a new partnership with Silicon Catalyst, extending free access of Arm’s IP, design tools, and prototype silicon to members of the Silicon Valley-based incubator for silicon startups.
