Towards an IC design ecosystem in Latin America: what do we need to open an ASIC design house in the region?

The microelectronics industry increasingly depends on the input of multiple suppliers in the area of design and generation of intellectual property (IP). In the last decade, this led to a boom in these design houses in countries in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Near East. But political realignments, added to the growing complexity of modern chips and the orientation of countries like India towards their internal market, have put the issue of near-shoring back on the table for the North American semiconductor industry. In particular, the growing need for time alignment, and the search for higher quality of remote design services independent of the price factor (increasingly leveled globally anyway). All this implies a magnificent opportunity for more ASIC design houses to appear in Latin America. But the challenge is great: how to quickly generate the necessary critical mass for a successful business? Among the biggest obstacles we face are: very weak electrical or electronic engineering study programs in the area of microelectronics, very few graduate students in areas related to VLSI, the excessive cost of EDA tools for a small company that want to develop its own IP, the lack of a layer of experienced engineers that can guide the design teams, and the industry's lack of knowledge about the existing capabilities in Latin America (lack of positioning). This talk aims to offer
proposals for solutions, based on our own success story at Rydev, a Latin American ASIC design house with operations in Costa Rica and Argentina, that may help motivate more companies to appear in the short term in the region.