Siemens EDA has announced plans to acquire two specialist EDA companies, Precision Innovations and Defacto Technologies. Together, they extend the Siemens portfolio into the earlier stages of SoC architecture, planning and design creation. 

This is particularly relevant to European start-ups, university spin-outs, specialist ASIC houses and system companies developing their first or next generation of custom silicon. These organisations often have ambitious designs, limited engineering resources and little room for expensive iterations. 

Precision Innovations provides AI-powered chip planning and early design exploration technology based on the OpenROAD framework. It helps engineering teams assess design feasibility and explore power, performance and area trade-offs before making major implementation commitments. 

For a smaller design team, this could help answer some crucial early questions. Is the proposed architecture physically achievable? Which configuration offers the strongest PPA balance? Is the floorplan realistic? Where are implementation problems likely to emerge? 

Identifying these issues earlier can reduce the number of iterations between architecture, RTL and physical design, improving confidence before committing significant engineering time and downstream implementation costs. 

Defacto Technologies addresses the challenge of creating and integrating increasingly complex SoCs. Its technology automates activities including SoC assembly, IP connectivity, design restructuring, timing constraints and power intent management. 

Even a relatively specialised mixed-signal ASIC can contain multiple digital IP blocks, clock domains, power domains and interfaces. Managing this integration through manual processes and project-specific scripts becomes increasingly difficult as the design grows. Defacto’s technology offers greater automation and continuity from RTL design creation through implementation, verification and sign-off.

The two companies therefore address complementary problems. Precision Innovations supports decisions about what should be built and whether it can meet its objectives. Defacto helps automate how the resulting SoC is assembled and prepared for implementation. 

For EDA Solutions customers, these announcements also show the direction of the wider Siemens EDA portfolio. Siemens is building a more connected flow covering architectural exploration, SoC creation, Aprisa physical implementation and Calibre sign-off, supported increasingly by AI-driven automation. 

At time of writing, the transactions remain subject to their respective completion processes, while detailed integration plans and product availability have yet to be announced.  As product plans and availability become clearer, EDA Solutions will help customers understand how these capabilities could fit their design requirements, existing tools and commercial constraints. 

For European design teams seeking to achieve more with focused engineering resources, moving informed decisions and effective automation earlier in the design lifecycle could provide a valuable advantage.

 

Siemens to acquire Precision Innovations to expand AI-powered system-on-a-chip design exploration and optimization, 20 July 2026, https://news.siemens.com/en-gb/siemens-to-acquire-precision-innovations/ 

Siemens to acquire Defacto Technologies to complement its EDA portfolio with automated SoC design creation, 21 July 2026, https://news.siemens.com/en-gb/siemens-to-acquire-defacto-technologies/