Cologne Chip
Cologne Chip AG is a German semiconductor company that designs FPGAs (GateMate family on 28nm GlobalFoundries), ISDN transceiver ICs, and ASIC IP cores, serving industrial, telecom, automotive, IoT, aerospace, and academic customers via direct sales and a global distributor network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersKöln, Germany
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Cologne Chip does
Cologne Chip AG is a privately held German semiconductor company founded in 1994 in Cologne, operating as an Aktiengesellschaft with a 25-year track record in telecommunications and programmable logic. The company's commercial portfolio is anchored by two lines: (1) the GateMate FPGA family — built on a proprietary 8-input LUT Cologne Programmable Element (CPE) architecture manufactured by GlobalFoundries in Dresden on 28nm Super Low Power, supported by a fully open-source toolchain and ranging from the A1 (20,480 CPEs) up to planned A25 (512,000 CPEs) variants — and (2) legacy ISDN transceiver ICs (XHFC and HFC series for BRI/PRI) plus ASIC IP cores (C3-PLL-2, C3-CODEC-G712-4) based on the proprietary DIGICC technology that enables fully digital implementations of traditionally analog functions.
The company serves industrial automation, telecom, automotive, IoT, aerospace, defense, academic, and AI-acceleration customers. It makes money through one-time hardware sales of FPGA chips/evaluation boards and ISDN transceivers (distributed via direct sales in North America and through partners such as Digi-Key, Codico, Schukat, Sekorm, Fullerton, Cornes, Unitronic, and Alcom across EMEA and APAC), supplemented by ASIC IP core licensing with potential royalty terms. Go-to-market combines direct engagement, an active European trade-show circuit (Embedded World, Electronica, FPGA Conference Europe, CERN FPGA Developers' Forum), and community-led adoption through open-source hardware partners (Olimex, Machdyne, Trenz Electronic, Intergalaktik). Cologne Chip was historically self-funded as a profitable ISDN chip vendor; GateMate FPGA development received grant support from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi), and the company is expanding its roadmap into higher-density FPGAs, radiation-tolerant silicon, and a planned quasi-analog neuron AI chip.
Cologne Chip firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cologne Chip
- Legal name
- Cologne Chip AG
- Website
- https://colognechip.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Cologne Chip AG is a German semiconductor company that designs FPGAs (GateMate family on 28nm GlobalFoundries), ISDN transceiver ICs, and ASIC IP cores, serving industrial, telecom, automotive, IoT, aerospace, and academic customers via direct sales and a global distributor network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cologne Chip industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Programmable Logic / FPGA Semiconductors
- NAICS
- Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413), Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (3344)
- SIC
- Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Compute & Acceleration ICs (CPU/GPU/AI/FPGA/ASIC) (HDAHABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Programmable Logic (FPGAs/CPLDs) (HDAHAJAG), General-Purpose Logic & Microcontrollers (MCU/MPU) (HDAHAAAA)
Keywords
Where Cologne Chip is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Köln
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cologne Chip business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations
Revenue model
- FPGA Hardware Sales: Cologne Chip sells GateMate FPGA chips and evaluation boards directly and through distributors. Products include the GateMate A1 (20,480 CPE), GateMate A2 (40,960 CPE), and larger variants (A4, A9, A16, A25), as well as the GateMate FPGA Evaluation Board and programmer accessories. Sales are B2B, targeting industrial, telecom, automotive, and embedded systems manufacturers. Revenue is generated through one-time hardware purchases with volume availability from stock.
- ISDN Transceiver IC Sales: Cologne Chip generates revenue from selling ISDN transceiver chips including the XHFC series (XHFC-1SU, XHFC-2SU, XHFC-2S4U, XHFC-4SU) and HFC series (HFC-4S, HFC-8S, HFC-E1). These chips serve telecommunications equipment manufacturers for BRI, PRI, and VoIP applications. Revenue is from one-time chip sales with long-term availability guarantees.
- ASIC IP Core Licensing (C3IP): Cologne Chip licenses its C3IP (C³IP) intellectual property cores including C3-PLL-2 (fully digital PLL) and C3-CODEC-G712-4 (4-channel voice CODEC). These are offered as design blocks for ASIC projects, implementable in various CMOS process technologies. Revenue model combines initial licensing fees with potential royalty arrangements for production use.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Get-a-Quotation — B2B custom pricing for FPGA and ISDN chips |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels13 records
Marketing channels7 records
Cologne Chip product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cologne Chip designs, manufactures, and sells programmable logic devices (the GateMate FPGA family with variants A1 through A25), ISDN transceiver ICs (XHFC and HFC Series) for telecom infrastructure, and licensable digital ASIC IP cores (C3IP family including C3-PLL-2 and C3-CODEC-G712-4). The company serves industrial automation, telecommunications, automotive, IoT, aerospace and academic customers, and supplies radiation-tolerant FPGA variants for high-reliability deployments such as those at CERN.
Product overview
Cologne Chip AG is a German semiconductor company with over 25 years of history, operating as the 'Smart Semiconductor Company.' Its product portfolio spans two main categories: (1) the GateMate FPGA family — a programmable logic line introduced in 2020 featuring innovative 8-input LUT-tree architecture (Cologne Programmable Elements, CPEs) manufactured by GlobalFoundries in Dresden at 28nm SLP — which includes the GateMate A1 (20,480 CPEs), GateMate A2 (40,960 CPEs), and upcoming A4, A9, A16, and A25 variants; supported by the GateMate Evaluation Board, Starter Kit, open-source OSS CAD Suite toolchain (Yosys, nextpnr, gmpack, openFPGALoader), and a 3rd-party boards ecosystem including Olimex, Trenz Electronic, and Machdyne; and (2) telecommunications ICs comprising ISDN transceiver ICs — the XHFC Series (XHFC-1SU, XHFC-2SU, XHFC-2S4U, XHFC-4SU) for Basic Rate and the HFC Series (HFC-4S, HFC-8S, HFC-E1) for Basic Rate and Primary Rate — plus ASIC IP cores under the C³IP brand, including C3-PLL-2 (fully digital PLL) and C3-CODEC-G712-4 (fully digital voice CODEC), both based on the proprietary DIGICC technology enabling fully digital implementations of analog functions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- GateMate FPGA Family (A1, A2, A4, A9, A16, A25) A family of low-power, low-latency programmable logic devices (FPGAs) built on Cologne Chip's proprietary Column Programmable Element (CPE) architecture and manufactured on GlobalFoundries' 170 nm CMOS process. The family spans variants A1, A2, A4, A9, A16, and A25 differentiated by logic capacity and I/O, with optional radiation-tolerant variants for high-reliability deployments. Sold to industrial automation, telecommunications, automotive, IoT, and aerospace/defense system integrators, with reference designs and accessories from third-party board partners (Olimex, Trenz Electronic, Machdyne, Intergalaktik).
- GateMate FPGA Evaluation Board An FPGA development and evaluation board supporting all GateMate FPGA variants, designed for design engineers evaluating the GateMate family and prototyping custom logic designs.
- GateMate FPGA Starter Kit A complete GateMate FPGA development kit that bundles a board, programmer, and software access, targeted at design engineers needing a ready-to-use development environment to start GateMate-based designs.
- XHFC Series ISDN Transceiver ICs A long-life family of ISDN transceiver ICs used by telecommunications equipment manufacturers and network operators to maintain legacy ISDN interfaces in deployed telecom equipment and customer-premises devices.
- HFC Series ISDN Transceiver ICs A complementary family of HFC ISDN transceiver ICs for telecommunications equipment OEMs requiring long-life-cycle ISDN connectivity components.
- C3-PLL-2 IP Core A licensable programmable Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) IP core from the C3IP family for ASIC and SoC designers needing a pre-validated clock-generation block.
- C3-CODEC-G712-4 IP Core A licensable G.712 audio codec IP core from the C3IP family for ASIC and SoC designers needing a pre-validated audio processing block.
Quantifiable outcome
- GateMate A1 achieves Spartan7-like performance at competitive cost points with a completely open-source toolchain
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Cologne Chip
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments9 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cologne Chip technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration13 records
Feature10 records
Cologne Chip partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- FPGA Conference EuropeminorCologne Chip is a contributor and exhibitor at the FPGA Conference Europe in Munich. At the 2026 conference, Cologne Chip will present on 'Next Generation quasi-analog Neuron AI Chip and FPGA' and 'Time-to-Digital-Converter (TDC) with less than 5ps resolution for GateMate FPGA'.
- Trenz ElectroniccoreTrenz Electronic (Germany) launched an FPGA Module equipped with the cost-effective GateMate A1 from Cologne Chip. The module features 2 banks with 100 pins each for external connections, 16 MByte Quad SPI Flash, level shifters (3.3V/1.8V), and a 25MHz oscillator. The product supports an open-source design flow and is available for purchase on the Trenz Electronic website. This partnership extends GateMate's reach into professional embedded systems and SOM (System-on-Module) markets.
- TES Electronic Solutions GmbHcoreCologne Chip AG and TES Electronic Solutions GmbH announced cooperation in the field of IP design blocks on Cologne Chip's GateMate FPGA family. The two companies work together to offer one-stop-shop FPGA solutions for embedded applications in industrial, automotive, and telecom markets. TES provides hardware IP building blocks and systems integration, while Cologne Chip provides the FPGA platform. The cooperation combines expertise to create cutting-edge solutions for leading industry customers worldwide.
- Olimex Ltd.coreOlimex Ltd. (Plovdiv, Bulgaria, founded 1991) announced development of a new open-source hardware (OSHW) evaluation board based on the GateMate FPGA A1 chip. The board is designed for cost-sensitive applications and leverages the open-source toolchain. Olimex specializes in development boards, single-board computers, embedded systems, and hardware components for the open-source community. The partnership enables broader market reach into hobbyist, maker, and educational segments.
- GlobalFoundriescoreGlobalFoundries (Dresden, Germany) manufactures GateMate FPGAs using its advanced 28nm Super Low Power (SLP) process technology. This partnership is fundamental to Cologne Chip's ability to produce FPGAs 'Made in Germany' with proven quality and a robust supply chain. The 28nm SLP process enables power efficiency, compact packaging, and competitive cost structure.
- YosysHQ (OSS CAD Suite)coreGateMate FPGAs are supported by the OSS CAD Suite developed and maintained by YosysHQ, including Yosys (synthesis), nextpnr-himbaechel (place & route), gmpack (bitstream generation), and openFPGALoader (programming). The toolchain is fully open-source and license-free, with daily builds available on GitHub. Additional tools include slang (SystemVerilog), GHDL (VHDL simulation), Verilator, cocotb, and waveform viewers (surfer, gtkwave).
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cologne Chip competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lattice Semiconductor: US-based FPGA vendor focused on low-power, small-footprint FPGAs — the closest direct competitor to Cologne Chip's GateMate in the small-to-mid-density FPGA segment, targeting similar industrial, communications, and IoT applications.
- Efinix: Emerging FPGA vendor offering the Trion and Titanium families with a focus on small-to-mid density, low-power applications. Competes head-on with GateMate in the cost-sensitive embedded and IoT market.
- GOWIN Semiconductor: China-based low-to-mid density FPGA vendor with competitive pricing and growing global footprint. Closely comparable to GateMate in small/medium FPGA applications and a potential pricing/competitor threat in EMEA.
Broad incumbents
- AMD (Xilinx): Global FPGA market leader (now part of AMD) offering the broadest FPGA/SoC portfolio from low-end Spartan to high-end Versal devices. Competes broadly with GateMate across all density tiers and customer segments.
- Intel (Altera): Major incumbent FPGA vendor (formerly Altera) with Cyclone, Arria, and Stratix families. Competes across the full FPGA density and application spectrum that GateMate addresses at the low/mid end.
- Microchip Technology (Microsemi FPGA): FPGA vendor offering low-to-mid density FPGAs (PolarFire, IGLOO2) with a focus on low power and security. Directly competes with GateMate in industrial, aerospace, and defense segments.
Emerging players
- QuickLogic: Low-power FPGA and SoC vendor targeting IoT, wearable, and edge-AI applications. Comparable to GateMate in the ultra-low-power, small-form-factor programmable logic niche.
- Achronix Semiconductor: High-performance FPGA vendor (Speedster7t) targeting data center acceleration and networking. An adjacent peer in the broader FPGA market, particularly relevant as Cologne Chip moves up-market with larger GateMate variants.
- Trident IoT: Emerging European semiconductor company focused on IoT connectivity SoCs. Comparable as a European-headquartered small-scale fabless semiconductor vendor in overlapping customer segments (IoT, industrial).
Others
- GlobalFoundries: Foundry partner manufacturing GateMate FPGAs at the Dresden 28nm SLP node. Not a competitor but a critical ecosystem relationship; relevant for understanding the company's manufacturing dependencies and capacity outlook.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cologne Chip social profiles
Digital presenceCologne Chip compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Cologne Chip financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cologne Chip leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Cologne Chip funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cologne Chip M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cologne Chip
What does Cologne Chip do?
Cologne Chip designs, manufactures, and sells programmable logic devices (the GateMate FPGA family with variants A1 through A25), ISDN transceiver ICs (XHFC and HFC Series) for telecom infrastructure, and licensable digital ASIC IP cores (C3IP family including C3-PLL-2 and C3-CODEC-G712-4). The company serves industrial automation, telecommunications, automotive, IoT, aerospace and academic customers, and supplies radiation-tolerant FPGA variants for high-reliability deployments such as those at CERN.
Is Cologne Chip a public or private company?
Cologne Chip is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Cologne Chip founded?
Cologne Chip was founded in 1994. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Cologne Chip based?
Cologne Chip is headquartered in Köln, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Cologne Chip make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. FPGA Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are ISDN Transceiver IC Sales and ASIC IP Core Licensing (C3IP).
Who are Cologne Chip's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lattice Semiconductor, Efinix and GOWIN Semiconductor. Broad incumbents are AMD (Xilinx), Intel (Altera) and Microchip Technology (Microsemi FPGA). Emerging players are QuickLogic, Achronix Semiconductor and Trident IoT. GlobalFoundries is listed as an others.
Does Cologne Chip have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cologne Chip.
What industry is Cologne Chip in?
Cologne Chip's product category is Programmable Logic / FPGA Semiconductors. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHABAC, Compute & Acceleration ICs (CPU/GPU/AI/FPGA/ASIC), with a secondary code of HDAHAJAG, Programmable Logic (FPGAs/CPLDs). Its NAICS code is 334413 and its SIC code is 3674.