Clear Shape Technologies

Clear Shape Technologies, Inc. operated as a semiconductor design for manufacturing (DFM) software company, founded in 2003 by Fang-C Chang and Atul Sharan. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the firm specialized in developing software and technologies aimed at the advanced semiconductor manufacturing sector. The company secured a total of $10 million in funding over two rounds, with a Series A in 2004 and a $5 million Series B round in 2005. Investors included prominent firms such as USVP, Intel Capital, KT Venture Group, Telos Ventures, and AsiaTech Management.

The core of Clear Shape's business was its Variability Platform, designed to help circuit designers manage and optimize the impact of systematic manufacturing variations. This platform featured two main products: InShape, a lithography process checker, and OutPerform, an eDFM (electronic design for manufacturing) product. These tools were developed to detect potential manufacturing failures early in the design phase, thereby improving chip yield and performance. The software allowed designers to control for variations affecting chip performance, signal integrity, and power leakage. By addressing these issues pre-production, Clear Shape's solutions helped minimize yield loss for complex semiconductor integrated circuits.

The company's contributions were recognized with an EDN's 2006 Innovation award. In a significant milestone, Clear Shape Technologies was acquired by Cadence Design Systems in August 2007 for an undisclosed amount, after which it became a subsidiary of Cadence. This acquisition marked the successful culmination of the founders' vision to bridge the gap between chip design and manufacturing.

Keywords: semiconductor DFM, design for manufacturing, electronic design automation, EDA, yield optimization, lithography process checker, silicon variation, chip performance, signal integrity, leakage power, integrated circuit design, semiconductor manufacturing, Fang-C Chang, Atul Sharan, Cadence Design Systems, InShape, OutPerform, eDFM, systematic variation, yield loss