What Synapse does

Synapse is a privately held semiconductor design services company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm describes itself as an 'industry leader in design services' and the 'engineering backbone of most top tier Semiconductor and System companies,' indicating a positioning as a specialized engineering services partner rather than a product vendor. With 501-1,000 employees, Synapse delivers design services that support semiconductor and system customers across what appear to be high-complexity engineering engagements, anchored by co-founder-led leadership (Satish Bagalkotkar as President/CEO and Devesh Gautam as COO & Co-Founder) and supported by a dedicated business development function (Tom King, VP of Business Development) and engineering management (Haoran Wang, Director of Engineering).

The company's growth playbook has combined organic scaling with inorganic capability extension: it received a 2015 funding round from Agility Capital and acquired Asilicon Design in April 2017 to broaden its design services portfolio. The input does not disclose revenue, pricing models, named customer logos, detailed product portfolio, recent funding activity, or current geographic footprint beyond the Santa Clara headquarters, which limits precision on commercial metrics. The input also contains structured data for an unrelated entity sharing the Synapse name — Synapse Financial Technologies, a fintech banking-as-a-service middleware firm that collapsed in 2024 — which is not the subject of this analysis.

Name

Synapse

Legal name

Synapse Financial Technologies

Website

https://synapse-da.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Synapse is a privately held semiconductor design services firm founded in 2003, headquartered in Santa Clara, California. With 501-1,000 employees, it delivers engineering design services to top-tier semiconductor and system companies as their engineering backbone.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor Design Services

NAICS

Engineering Services (54133)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Foundry Platform & Design Enablement Services (PDK/DFM/Process Qualification) (HDAHACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Systems Engineering & Technical Program Management (BPAHAIAI)

Keywords

• Semiconductor design services
• ASIC design services
• Embedded systems engineering
• Silicon engineering services
• Product engineering design

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Clara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Synapse provides engineering design services to the semiconductor and system industry, functioning as the engineering backbone for most top-tier semiconductor and system companies. The firm delivers design expertise across digital, embedded, silicon, mechanical, and product lifecycle engineering disciplines, supporting customers from concept through silicon and system realization.

Product overview

Synapse Financial Technologies was a fintech middleware company that facilitated banking-as-a-service partnerships with multiple fintech companies. The company collapsed in 2024, leaving approximately $85 million in customer funds unaccounted for. No detailed product or service portfolio information is available from the provided sources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Engineering Design Services for Semiconductor and System Companies Multi-disciplinary engineering design services covering digital, embedded, silicon, mechanical, and product lifecycle engineering, delivered to top-tier semiconductor and system companies as their outsourced engineering backbone.
• ASIC Design Services (via Asilicon Design capability) ASIC design services integrated into Synapse's engineering design services portfolio following the Asilicon Design acquisition.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Multiple fintech companiescoreOthers · 1 January 2024Synapse Financial Technologies had established banking-as-a-service partnerships with multiple fintech companies prior to its 2024 collapse. These partnerships were disrupted when the company collapsed, leaving customer funds unaccounted for.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Regional players

• GlobalFoundries: Semiconductor foundry offering PDK, design enablement, and process qualification services to fabless customers. Comparable as an adjacent player in the design enablement value chain that could either partner with or substitute for Synapse's offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Synopsys: Largest EDA vendor with significant in-house design services and IP offerings, competing for the same design enablement budgets. Comparable as an incumbent whose services arm overlaps with Synapse's offering, though Synopsys' core business is EDA tools.
• HCLTech: Global technology services firm with a sizable semiconductor engineering services business serving fabless and IDM customers. Comparable as a large incumbent competing for outsourced chip design and verification work.
• Quest Global: Large global engineering services provider with explicit semiconductor industry practice and Silicon Engineering offerings. Directly comparable as a multi-disciplinary engineering services peer serving top semiconductor customers, though significantly larger and broader in scope than Synapse.
• Capgemini Engineering (ex-Altran): Global engineering and R&D services arm of Capgemini with deep semiconductor industry coverage. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering semiconductor design services to top-tier chip and systems customers.
• Cadence Design Systems: Major EDA vendor with growing design services and IP business serving semiconductor and systems customers. Comparable as an incumbent whose services portfolio competes for the same PDK, design enablement, and verification engagements.
• Wipro Engineering: Global IT and engineering services division of Wipro with a dedicated semiconductor practice covering chip design, verification, and embedded engineering. Comparable as a large-scale outsourced engineering services competitor for semiconductor clients.

Direct peers

• Tata Elxsi: Specialized design and technology services firm with a strong semiconductor and embedded systems practice. Comparable as a focused engineering services peer targeting semiconductor and systems companies with similar delivery model.
• Cyient: Engineering and digital solutions provider with explicit semiconductor and ASIC design services. Comparable as a mid-sized, focused engineering services peer competing for semiconductor design enablement and embedded work.

Others

• Marvell Technology (Custom Silicon Services): While primarily a fabless semiconductor company, Marvell and similar chip firms sometimes offer design services or partner with firms like Synapse. Included as an ecosystem participant that both competes for talent and consumes design enablement services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/synapsedesign_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Synapse