A TECHNOLOGY business spun-out of the University of Glasgow six years ago has been acquired by California-based Synopsys Inc., the world’s 15th largest software company.

Gold Standard Simulations (GSS) was set up in 2010 with £720,000 seed funding and ongoing commercialisation support from Scottish Enterprise.

The business has developed software that enables the semiconductor industry to improve the speed and power of the transistors that fuel modern consumer devices like mobile phones and computers.

In the terms of the deal, the value of which has not been disclosed, the GSS team will remain in Glasgow and be incorporated into the Synopsys technology CAD division.

All 17 GSS staff – who are led by Professor Asen Asenov – were shareholders in the company and have subsequently received a financial windfall in addition to job security.

“The deal is very beneficial for the GSS staff,” said Mr Asenov. “After the acquisition they will remain, working with Synopsys doing more or less what they have been doing but under the umbrella of a successful, powerful organisation.

Mr Asenov said it was likely that staff numbers would now grow to as many as 25.

GSS came to the attention of Synopsys through a number of papers published in professional journals and shared customers.

Synopsis was founded in 1986 and specialises in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP. It is also growing its software quality and security solutions business. Last year it posted revenues of $2.2 billion.

“GSS software brings significant potential for Synopsys to increase sales and the possibility to offer a more complete solution to the semiconductor industry,” said Mr Asenov.

He explained that as the capabilities of electronic devices expand, more powerful transistors are required. The challenge is to increase power while reducing size, and transistors are now reaching the limits of atomic scale, meaning engineers are running out of physical space within the semiconductors – which presents huge challenges. Challenges that can be overcome with GSS’ software, making it a huge asset to the industry.

“The transistors are now unbelievably small [and so] their atomic structure can create challenges. We create software to simulate and predict how they will work, which improves how they work. This is what we sell: software that improves the design of transistors and circuits on an atomic scale.”

All staff are former PHD or post-grad students of Professor Asenov and he said he was delighted that they could now share the benefits of their work.

“Our research group was leading the world, the software was leading, and now this will be further exploited by Synopsys. We’ve proved the technology developed in Glasgow can have big impact in semiconductor industry, and our staff now have very good stable jobs with good prospects, without having to leave Glasgow.”

Mr Acenov lamented the lack of such investment from UK businesses, saying: “This is a problem in the high-tech industry – the UK is not investing in this industry and unless companies like Synopsys buy and sustain operations it becomes hard for my people to find jobs.”

Offering his congratulations, David Smith, director of technology and engineering at Scottish Enterprise, said: “This transaction highlights both the talent of the company’s founders and the capabilities which Scotland can offer the global semiconductor industry.”