What ICsense does

ICsense is a fab-independent custom ASIC design company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with additional design centers in Ghent and Antwerp. Founded in 2004 by four PhDs from KU Leuven's ESAT-MICAS research group, the company specializes in mixed-signal, analog, digital, and high-voltage ASIC development for automotive, medical, industrial, and consumer OEMs. Since 2017 it has operated as an independent subsidiary of Japan's TDK Corporation, with the majority of revenue reportedly generated from customers outside the TDK group.

The company's core offering is a turnkey ASIC design-and-supply service that spans architectural design, foundry selection across 9 foundries and 45+ technology nodes (28nm to 0.5µm), in-house ATE testing on Advantest V93K platforms, ISO-Class 7 cleanroom wafer sort, qualification, and long-term volume production supply. Technical capabilities include sensor/MEMS analog front-ends, high-voltage designs up to +150V using BCD, HVCMOS, and SOI processes, ultra-low-power circuits with nano-amp consumption, DC-DC converters achieving >96% efficiency, and integration of digital cores (ARM, RISC-V, MSP430) with communication protocols including NFC, RFID, SPI, I2C, CAN, LIN, and RS485. Certifications include ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 26262 (ASIL B/C/D), IEC 61508 (SIL 3), IATF 16949, and AEC-Q100, enabling market access in safety-critical automotive, medical implant, and industrial segments. To date ICsense has executed 170+ tape-outs and supports 500M+ ASICs in annual mass production.

ICsense runs a B2B enterprise sales motion with project-based pricing comprising NRE fees for development plus recurring unit pricing for mass production supply under exclusive single-customer-per-ASIC terms. The business is bifurcated between "ASIC Design and Supply" (turnkey exclusive supply) and "IC Design Services" (design outsourcing for firms with internal teams). Named customers include Nvidia, Renesas, Cochlear, Medtronic, ON Semiconductor, Nujira, Thales Alenia Space, and Tego. The company has reported record revenue for 2024 following 14% revenue growth in 2023 with EBITDA approaching €2 million, and has been profitable since founding.

Name

ICsense

Legal name

ICsense NV

Website

https://icsense.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ICsense is a Belgian fab-independent custom ASIC design company providing turnkey mixed-signal, analog, digital, and high-voltage IC solutions to automotive, medical, industrial, and consumer OEMs. Operating as a TDK subsidiary since 2017, it delivers exclusive single-customer ASIC supply with first-time-right silicon across 9 foundries and 45+ technology nodes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leuven

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom ASIC Development and Supply: Full turnkey ASIC solutions from concept to mass production. ICsense develops custom ASICs exclusively for individual customers and supplies volume production, handling everything from architectural design through qualified manufacturing. Revenue comes from NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering) fees for development plus ongoing unit pricing for mass production supply.
2. IC Design Services: Semiconductor design outsourcing services including architecture studies, analog/digital/high-voltage design, layout, bench testing, characterization, ATE production testing and qualification support for companies with internal design teams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ICsense provides fab-independent custom ASIC development and supply, delivering turnkey projects from architecture and design through foundry tape-out, qualification, in-house ATE testing, and mass-production supply. Each ASIC is developed for and supplied to a single customer only, protecting their IP. The firm also offers standalone IC design outsourcing (analog, digital, mixed-signal, high-voltage) covering architecture studies, layout, characterization and qualification support for clients with internal design teams.

Product overview

ICsense is a fab-independent custom ASIC design company offering two core service models: (1) ASIC Design and Supply - a complete turnkey service from concept to mass production with exclusive customer supply, and (2) IC Design Services - semiconductor design outsourcing for companies with internal teams. The portfolio spans specialized ASIC modules including Sensor/MEMS ASIC, High-Voltage ASIC, Power/Battery Management ASIC, Low-Power ASIC, Digital ASIC, and Communication ASIC. Complementary services include In-House ATE Test Development, Supply Chain Management, and ASIC Packaging. Market-specific offerings cover Automotive ASIC (ISO 26262/ASIL), Medical ASIC (ISO 13485), Industrial ASIC (IEC 61508), and Consumer ASIC. As a TDK subsidiary since 2017, ICsense operates as Europe's premier mixed-signal IC design company with manufacturing capabilities in Belgium.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASIC Design and Supply Turnkey custom ASIC development and supply covering the complete flow from concept and architecture through design, foundry selection, in-house ATE testing, qualification and volume production. Each ASIC is exclusively developed for and supplied to a single customer to safeguard their competitive advantage. Target customers are automotive, medical, industrial and consumer OEMs needing application-specific silicon with 10+ year supply.
• IC Design Services Fab-independent semiconductor design outsourcing including architecture studies, analog, digital and high-voltage design, layout, bench testing, characterization, ATE production testing and qualification support. For enterprises with internal design teams that need additional capacity or expertise, served across TSMC, GF, SMIC, XFAB, ON Semiconductor and UMC process nodes.
• Sensor/MEMS ASIC High-accuracy, low-power analog front-end ASICs for sensor and MEMS interfacing, including instrumentation amplifiers, ADCs and DACs for ToF, Hall, fluxgate, GMR, TMR, accelerometers, gyroscopes and capacitive/inductive sensors. Sold as a custom ASIC design engagement to sensor product manufacturers.
• High-Voltage ASIC Custom high-voltage integrated circuits using BCD, HVCMOS and SOI processes supporting voltages up to +200V on-chip. Used by automotive, industrial, medical and consumer OEMs in EVs, neuromodulation, MEMS, haptics, ultrasound and LED lighting applications.
• Power/Battery Management ASIC Custom ICs for power and battery management featuring DC-DC converters (inductive and capacitive), SIMO architectures, wireless charging functions and intelligent battery management achieving >96% efficiency for EVs and portable devices. Sold as a custom ASIC design engagement.
• Low-Power ASIC Custom ultra-low-power ASICs with nano-amp current consumption, subthreshold/weak inversion design, energy harvesting and duty-cycling techniques for battery-powered and always-on applications such as medical implants and consumer wearables.
• Digital ASIC Custom digital ASIC and SoC development covering full RTL to GDSII flow with UVM-based verification, PPA optimization, mixed-signal verification, ultra-low power design and ATPG production test implementation. Integrates ARM Cortex, RISC-V and MSP430 cores with optional AES-128 cryptographic processors.
• Communication ASIC Custom ASICs supporting both wireless (NFC, RFID, inductive links) and wired communication protocols (SPI, I2C, I3C, JTAG, LVDS, UART, CAN, SENT, LIN, RS485) for automotive and industrial markets.
• Automotive ASIC ISO 26262-compliant automotive-grade ASICs for battery management, current sensing, fuel injection, motor control, pressure sensing, TMR sensor read-out and communication (CAN, SENT, PSI5), supporting ASIL B/C/D levels and AEC-Q100 qualification. Addresses automotive functional safety and harsh-environment reliability needs.
• Medical ASIC ISO 13485-certified custom ASICs for medical devices including implants (Cochlear, deep brain stimulation, neuromodulation), wearables, ultrasound, X-ray imaging, lab-on-chip and hearing aids. Supports FDA Class I, II, III and Active Implantable Medical Device (AIMD) designs.
• Industrial ASIC IEC 61508 SIL-compliant custom ASICs for Industry 4.0 applications including pressure/flow sensing, inductive proximity, motor control, position sensing, gas detection, ToF and ultrasound sensing, passive RFID tags and industrial communication (RS485, CAN). Includes rad-hard variants for aerospace.
• Consumer ASIC Custom ASICs for consumer electronics and IoT markets combining high yield, low power consumption, high performance and cost-efficiency with fast time-to-market and compact form factor optimization. Applications include MEMS speakers, piezo-haptics, magnetic sensors, low-power wireless devices, DC-DC converters and Class D audio drivers.

Quantifiable outcome

• +500M ASICs in mass production yearly
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• TSMCcoreTechnology or IntegrationTSMC is one of the 9 foundries ICsense works with, providing access to technology nodes including 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, and 65nm processes for ASIC manufacturing.
• GlobalFoundriescoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership announcement with GlobalFoundries for ASIC development and supply collaboration.
• XFABcoreTechnology or IntegrationXFAB is one of the foundries ICsense partners with for ASIC manufacturing, offering BCD, HVCMOS, and SOI technologies.
• ON SemiconductorcoreTechnology or IntegrationON Semiconductor is selected as a preferred IC design partner. ICsense has proven to deliver high-quality and reliable IC designs compliant with stringent demands.
• UMCcoreTechnology or IntegrationUMC is one of the foundries ICsense works with for ASIC manufacturing.
• SMICcoreTechnology or IntegrationSMIC is one of the foundries ICsense works with for ASIC manufacturing.
• Tower JazzcoreTechnology or IntegrationTower Jazz (Tower Semiconductor) is one of the foundries ICsense works with for ASIC manufacturing.
• Samsung SemiconductorcoreTechnology or IntegrationSamsung is one of the foundries ICsense works with for ASIC manufacturing.
• AMS OsramcoreTechnology or IntegrationAMS (now AMS Osram) is one of the foundries ICsense works with for ASIC manufacturing.
• Texas InstrumentscoreTechnology or IntegrationTexas Instruments is one of the foundries ICsense works with for ASIC manufacturing.
• Flanders SemiconductorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerICsense is a founding member of Flanders Semiconductors, an industry alliance supporting the semiconductor ecosystem in Belgium.
• OSAT PartnerssupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorICsense collaborates with trusted Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) partners for assembly, test, and qualification services, ensuring high-reliability ICs meeting automotive and medical standards.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/icsense
• Xx.com/icsensenv

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about ICsense