Mentor Graphics has set up a UK start-up support firm called
Cre8Ventures in an effort to connect entrereneurs with prospective
partners.
The move comes as Electronics Weekly refreshes its
start-up map of the UK.
Mentor is attempting to assist UK start-ups by brokering
contacts with potential allies, advisers and customers from its
network.
“We see intensely creative clusters of electronics entrepreneurs
in Bristol and Cambridge. The fabless semiconductor model is a
popular one but fewer people seem to be doing IP,” commented Carson
Bradbury, director for Cre8Ventures.
EW’s start-up map shows a healthy electronics start-up
culture, with hotspots of activity around Cambridge, Bristol,
Livingston, Manchester and Southampton. Around 130 firms are
featured in the map, more than in any previous version of the
map.
This growth has also been noted by Mentor Graphics, which in
2005 did eight times as much UK business with start-ups compared
with 2003 in revenue terms.
“In addition to some of the better known electronics clusters
Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast are starting
to generate more entrepreneurial activity. I’ve noticed a broad
range of interesting technology in some of these areas varying from
organic electronics to consumer IP,” said Bradbury.
“Clustering works and more electronic engineering clusters are
appearing across Britain and Ireland. There’s a lot more
analogue/mixed-signal design going on in these clusters… Start-ups
are coming to us particularly for analogue mixed signal design
flows and next generation system verification technology,”
continued Bradbury.
The EW start-up map also shows the variety of
technology sectors, with particular strength in semiconductor IP
and communications. An interactive version of the map is
available on the EW website and
contains unique information, including start-ups’ funding plans and
an outline of the technology they are pursuing.
www.cre8ventures.com