With more than 35 years of experience in ASIC design services, Progate Group Corporation (PGC, TPEx: 8227), a member of the TSMC Design Center Alliance (DCA) and a Synopsys IP OEM Program partner, provides cost-effective and flexible ASIC turnkey services to help startups and enterprises overcome the barriers to customized chip development and accelerate their products from concept to mass production.
PGC's integrated development path covers IP licensing, IP integration, IC design, physical implementation, tape-out, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and mass production - combining its ASIC design expertise with the TSMC ecosystem and Synopsys IP resources. PGC's website states that the company has taped out more than 1,500 projects at TSMC and supports both CyberShuttle/MPW and mass-production services.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications continue to expand, demand for customized ASICs is increasing across a wide range of applications, including AI acceleration, Edge AI, networking, and other computing applications. However, high non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs, complex IP integration, and lengthy development cycles remain major challenges for companies seeking to develop their own chips.
Lowering the Barriers to ASIC Development
ASIC development has traditionally been dominated by large enterprises with significant semiconductor resources and engineering capabilities. With the rapid growth of AI applications, however, more startups and enterprises are looking to develop customized chips to achieve better performance, lower power consumption, and improved cost efficiency.
PGC addresses these challenges through its one-stop ASIC turnkey service, giving customers access to the expertise and resources required throughout the chip development lifecycle without having to build a complete ASIC development organization internally.
Through the Synopsys IP OEM Program, PGC also provides access to cost-competitive IP solutions and supports the integration of high-speed interface and other semiconductor IP, helping customers reduce IP licensing costs, simplify development, and shorten the overall design cycle. PGC's current service portfolio includes high-speed interface IP integration such as PCIe, USB, MIPI, SerDes, DDR, and die-to-die interfaces.
Case Study 1: AI Startup Accelerates FPGA-to-ASIC Migration with MPW/Shuttle Flow
An AI startup specializing in image recognition initially used FPGA technology for product development. As market demand grew, the company faced increasing cost and power-consumption challenges, making the FPGA-based solution less suitable for large-scale production.
After engaging PGC, the company transitioned from FPGA to ASIC through PGC's FPGA-to-ASIC solution. To reduce the initial development cost and lower the risk of ASIC adoption, the customer adopted an MPW/Shuttle flow for the first silicon implementation. PGC also integrated multiple high-speed interface IPs and managed the ASIC design flow from development through tape-out.
The project achieved First Silicon Success on the first tape-out, along with a significant reduction in power consumption, an approximately 10 percentage reduction in overall cost, and an approximately 20 percentage reduction in time-to-market compared with the company's original FPGA-based development timeline.
The project demonstrates how PGC's FPGA-to-ASIC solution and MPW/Shuttle flow can help AI startups reduce initial development costs and technical risks while providing a practical path from FPGA prototyping to ASIC implementation and subsequent mass production.
PGC's existing service model supports the transition from smaller-volume MPW/CyberShuttle runs to full-mask development and high-volume production, allowing customers to select an appropriate development path as their products mature.
Case Study 2: Edge AI Company Develops a Customized SoC
An Edge AI company sought to develop a customized SoC to meet growing demand for intelligent edge applications. Compared with conventional off-the-shelf solutions, a customized chip offered better integration, lower power consumption, improved performance, and greater flexibility for the company's target applications.
Developing an ASIC requires expertise across system architecture, IP selection and integration, IC design, physical implementation, manufacturing, and testing. The company therefore sought an experienced ASIC partner to accelerate development while managing overall project cost and risk.
PGC provided a comprehensive turnkey solution covering system architecture planning, IP integration, IC design, physical implementation, tape-out, manufacturing, packaging, and testing. By integrating the required IP and managing the development flow end to end, PGC helped the customer move efficiently from system requirements to a finished customized SoC.
The result was improved system integration and performance, reduced overall system cost, and better power efficiency, giving the customer greater flexibility to optimize its chip for specific Edge AI applications.
This case demonstrates PGC's ability to support not only AI startups but also companies developing next-generation Edge AI solutions, helping them build in-house customized chip capabilities and strengthen long-term product competitiveness.
PGC has specifically highlighted FPGA-to-ASIC migration and Edge AI SoC development as important application areas, with its turnkey platform covering front-end design, back-end APR, tape-out, MPW/CyberShuttle runs, and subsequent production.
Flexible ASIC Turnkey Services for Different Development Needs
PGC offers a flexible development model designed to support projects of different sizes and stages. Customers can choose from multiple development and manufacturing models, including MPW/Shuttle services, mass production (MP), and Customer-Owned Tooling (COT), allowing them to select an approach that matches their budget, production requirements, and long-term business strategy.
For startups and companies entering ASIC development for the first time, an MPW/Shuttle flow can provide a practical and cost-effective approach for initial silicon development and validation. By sharing wafer costs across multiple projects, MPW can help reduce the upfront cost of producing prototype silicon compared with a dedicated full-mask approach.
As products mature and production volumes increase, PGC can support customers in transitioning from prototype silicon to mass production. Its turnkey service covers the broader supply chain, including wafer fabrication, CP/FT testing, packaging, and production support.
Through its one-stop turnkey model, PGC can coordinate IP, design, foundry, packaging, and testing resources, helping customers reduce project complexity and focus on their core product and application development.
Combining TSMC, Synopsys and OSAT Ecosystem Resources
PGC's turnkey model is built around close collaboration with major semiconductor ecosystem partners. As a certified member of the TSMC Design Center Alliance, PGC provides TSMC ASIC design and CyberShuttle services. The company also works with Synopsys through the IP OEM Program and collaborates with ASE and other OSAT partners for packaging and testing.
This ecosystem-based approach allows PGC to integrate design, IP, manufacturing, packaging, and testing resources into a coordinated development flow. For startups and small and medium-sized companies, this can reduce the need to independently manage multiple semiconductor suppliers and technical interfaces throughout the ASIC development process.
PGC also supports advanced-node ASIC development. Its current service portfolio includes TSMC 6nm, 5nm, 4nm, and 3nm FinFET processes, as well as advanced packaging services such as CoWoS.
Looking Ahead
PGC plans to deepen its collaboration with ecosystem partners while expanding IP integration and advanced-process design capabilities, including support for more advanced TSMC process nodes and continued growth of its Synopsys IP OEM offerings.
The company will continue to focus on helping startups and enterprises move from FPGA or off-the-shelf solutions toward customized ASIC architectures, particularly for AI, Edge AI, HPC, networking, and other high-growth applications.
By combining ASIC design expertise, TSMC ecosystem resources, Synopsys IP access, and flexible MPW/Shuttle, MP, and COT models, PGC aims to help more companies overcome the traditional barriers to ASIC development.
The goal is to lower development risk and cost, accelerate time-to-market, and provide a practical path from initial silicon development to mass production - enabling more startups and enterprises to build customized AI and Edge AI chips and strengthen their long-term product competitiveness.
