KarMic Design

What KarMic Design does

KarMic Design Private Limited is a privately held semiconductor design services company headquartered in Manipal, Karnataka, India, with a training campus at Neelavar near Mangalore and a regional office in London. Founded in 1999 by Dr. Shivaling Mahant Shetti and Mark Harward — both former Texas Instruments executives — KarMic is recognised as the first and oldest semiconductor Offshore Design Centre in India. The company serves global IDMs, fabless semiconductor firms, and foundries, with named relationships spanning the Texas Instruments ecosystem, Analog Devices (on-site engineer deputation in Bangalore since 2017), and an unnamed industry-leading power management semiconductor customer that granted a Supplier Excellence Award in 2021.

The company delivers work across eight service lines covering the full IC design lifecycle: Analog Mixed Signal Circuit Design and Layout, IO Design and Layout, Memory Layout, AMS Verification, ASIC Library Development, Physical Design, PDK development, and Automotive Software Development. Technical coverage extends across process nodes from 400nm down to advanced 3nm, including 7nm and 5nm. Delivery is executed through EDA-standard toolchains using SystemVerilog, Verilog A/AMS, OVM/UVM, and scripting in TCL, Python, Perl, and SKILL. KarMic holds ISO 9001:2015 certification and has received multiple STPI Highest Exporter awards between 2011 and 2020.

KarMic generates revenue through B2B professional services engagements priced on a quote basis and sold via direct enterprise field sales, delivered via three models: offshore execution from Manipal and Neelavar, on-site engineer deputation at customer sites, and (for EMEA customers) coordination through its London office. A proprietary training academy at the Neelavar campus has produced more than 1,000 industry-ready engineers, forming the core of a talent-led operating model. Current leadership — CEO Rathnakar Bhat, CFO Gajanan Shanbhag, COO Dilipa Mogaveera, and CTO Gururaj Bankapur — has been with the company since 2004-2006, providing continuity following the death of co-founder Dr. Mahant Shetti in 2017. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or external funding rounds.

Name

KarMic Design

Legal name

KarMic Design Private Limited

Website

https://karmic.co.in

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

KarMic Design is a privately held Indian semiconductor design services firm delivering analog, RF/mmwave, mixed-signal, memory, IO, and digital IC design across 400nm to 3nm process nodes to global IDMs, fabless firms, and foundries since 1999.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor Design Services

NAICS

Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Custom & Application-Specific ASIC Design Services (HDAHABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

R&D / Prototyping & MPW Shuttle Foundries (HDAHACAI), Foundry Platform & Design Enablement Services (PDK/DFM/Process Qualification) (HDAHACAJ)

Keywords

• Semiconductor design services
• Analog mixed signal design
• ASIC library development
• Physical design services
• Memory layout design

Headquarters

HQ city

Udupi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Semiconductor Design Services: Provides end-to-end semiconductor design and development services including Analog, RF/mmwave, Mixed Signal, Memory, IO and Digital domain expertise. Revenue generated through professional services engagements with semiconductor companies, offering design services and solutions globally.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

KarMic Design provides outsourced semiconductor chip design and engineering services to semiconductor companies worldwide. Its offerings span analog mixed signal design, IO design, memory layout, AMS verification, ASIC library development, physical design, PDK development, and automotive software, delivered from India with a London presence.

Product overview

KarMic Design is a semiconductor design services company offering a comprehensive portfolio of eight interconnected service offerings spanning the full IC design lifecycle. The core offerings include Analog Mixed Signal Circuit Design & Layout (covering power management, data converters, RF modules across 400nm to 3nm nodes), IO Design & Layout (GPIO, LVDS, SerDes up to 20G speeds), Memory Layout (SRAM, FLASH, NVM), and AMS Verification (using HDL, SV, Verilog A/AMS, OVM/UVM). Supporting services include ASIC Library Development, Physical Design (RTL to GDSII), PDK development, and Automotive Software Development with script automation (TCL, Python, Perl, SKILL). These services collectively enable end-to-end semiconductor product development for global customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Analog Mixed Signal Design Outsourced analog mixed signal (AMS) chip design service for semiconductor customers needing specialized analog/digital co-design expertise.
• IO Design Input/output cell and pad-ring design service for semiconductor programs, covering IO libraries and IO architecture.
• Memory Layout Memory compiler and memory block layout service for SRAM, ROM, and other on-chip memory subsystems.
• AMS Verification Analog mixed signal verification service providing mixed-signal simulation and sign-off for AMS design blocks.
• ASIC Library Development Standard cell and macro library development service for ASIC programs, including characterization and library release.
• Physical Design Backend physical design service covering floorplanning, placement, clock tree synthesis, routing, and timing closure for chip tape-outs.
• PDK Development Process Design Kit (PDK) development service enabling foundry process support for downstream chip designers.
• Automotive Software Automotive software engineering service supporting automotive-grade semiconductor and embedded software programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successful tapeouts across multiple technology nodes from 400nm to 3nm
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Texas Instruments EcosystemfoundationalOthersWhile not a formal partnership, Karmic has deep Texas Instruments heritage. Founders Dr. Shivaling Mahant Shetti and Mark Harward both have extensive backgrounds at Texas Instruments. Dr. Shetti started Linear Design Centre in Texas Instruments India in Bangalore, the first commercial design group in India. The culture and expertise developed at TI forms the foundation of Karmic's technical capabilities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Synopsys: Global EDA tools leader that also offers design services and IP, including analog/mixed-signal and physical design — broader portfolio but competes with KarMic on bundled design-services-plus-tools engagements with large semiconductor customers.
• Wipro: Global IT services major with a semiconductor practice delivering analog/digital design and verification services — broader portfolio and larger bench, but competes head-to-head with KarMic for global semiconductor design services contracts.
• HCL Technologies: Global IT services major with an established semiconductor practice (HCLTech Semicon) covering chip design, verification, and silicon engineering — larger and broader, but competes directly for the same offshore design center mandates KarMic serves.
• Cadence Design Systems: Global EDA and IP company with a design services arm spanning analog, RF, and physical implementation — comparable advanced-node capability and competes with KarMic on turnkey design service engagements.

Others

• GlobalFoundries: Major semiconductor foundry with whom KarMic works on PDK and library development; relevant as a downstream customer/channel for KarMic's PDK and ASIC library services rather than a direct services competitor.

Direct peers

• Tessolve: Semiconductor engineering services and test company providing analog/mixed-signal design, physical design, and verification — directly comparable to KarMic in service mix, India delivery model, and advanced-node capability.
• Cyient: Engineering and digital solutions provider with a dedicated semiconductor practice covering analog layout, physical design, and ASIC services — comparable India-headquartered design services peer serving fabless/IDM customers.
• eInfochips: An Arrow Electronics company offering silicon design, verification, and embedded services including analog/mixed-signal and physical design — overlaps KarMic's service portfolio and targets the same global semiconductor customer base.
• Sasken Technologies: India-headquartered semiconductor design services company offering analog, mixed-signal, RF, and digital design — closely overlapping KarMic's core service portfolio and customer profile of global fabless/IDM clients.
• Tata Elxsi: Tata group design and technology services company with a semiconductor practice spanning VLSI design, verification, and embedded — comparable India delivery footprint and overlap in analog/digital design services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/karmic_design_p

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 KarMic Design