Global tech and consulting giant Accenture has entered an agreement to acquire Ottawa-based semiconductor engineering services company XtremeEDA for an undisclosed amount.
Founded in 2002 by Claude Cloutier, XtremeEDA provides design and functional verification services to the computer chip industry. The firm’s expertise spans across a variety of sectors including processor, telecommunications, aviation, medical, consumer electronics, and others. In addition to XtremeEDA’s head office in Ottawa, XtremeEDA also has a location in Austin, Texas.
Once the acquisition is completed, XtremeEDA intends to bring over its team of 40 engineers that serve its clients across North America to Accenture. Since inception, XtremeEDA has worked with businesses such as Siemens, Codasip, Cadence, ASIC North, and Avery Design Systems.
XtremeEDA’s integration into Accenture Canada is expected to bolster the latter’s edge computing and silicon design capabilities. Accenture noted the consolidation will help its customers improve how they manage and use physical assets by creating new and interactive human experiences.
“XtremeEDA will help us scale what is already one of the most comprehensive edge capabilities in the world, creating new experiences on the digital core,” said Jeffrey Russell, president of Accenture in Canada.
XtremeEDA is the latest Canadian company to be acquired by Accenture, following Gevity, Cloudworks, Avenai, PCO Innovation, Callisto Integration, and the financial services assets of Zafin.
Accenture’s decision to tap into the semiconductor engineering space is notable considering that the sector is undergoing a global chip shortage. A survey of electronics-makers found that nearly 60 percent of firms expect the microchip deficit to last into the second half of this year or beyond.
RELATED: VentureLab secures $2.5 million in provincial funding to expand semiconductor incubator
To help address the strain in the semiconductor supply chain, the federal government announced plans earlier this year to invest a total of $240 million to help strengthen the country’s semiconductor and photonics design and production capabilities. The $240 million includes $150 million towards the Semiconductor Challenge Callout fund for targeted investments in semiconductor development and manufacturing, as well as a $90 million investment for Ottawa-based Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre.
In April, Markham-based tech hub VentureLab received a $2.5 million CAD investment from the Ontario government to establish a medtech stream within its Hardware Catalyst Initiative (HCI), a lab and incubator for hardware and semiconductor companies.
Featured image from Umberto via Unsplash.
