In its first acquisition in India within the silicon design space, IT consulting and services major Accenture announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based Excelmax Technologies. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. This acquisition enhances Accenture’s growing silicon design and engineering capabilities, as Excelmax provides custom silicon solutions for consumer devices, data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), and computational platforms that enable edge AI deployments, serving clients in the automotive, telecommunications, and high-tech industries.
The acquisition brings a strong engineering team of 450 professionals from Excelmax to Accenture’s global team. This marks Accenture’s second acquisition in the semiconductor design space, following the acquisition of XtremeEDA, an Ottawa, Canada-based silicon design services company, in 2022.
Mahesh Zurale, global lead of Advanced Technology Centres Global Network at Accenture, stated, “Accenture’s acquisition of Excelmax Technologies brings approximately 450 highly skilled silicon professionals to our Advanced Technology Centres in India. With the global demand for silicon solutions on the rise, India is becoming a hotbed for chip design. Growing our skilled talent in the country across physical and RTL design, verification, emulation, and firmware engineering will help us expand our capabilities in the silicon design space and accelerate innovation for our worldwide clients.”
Founded in 2019, Excelmax offers comprehensive semiconductor solutions from high-level design to detailed physical layout ready for manufacturing, and full turnkey execution. The company’s addition of 450 professionals to Accenture enhances capabilities in key areas such as emulation, automotive, physical design, analog, logic design, and verification, boosting Accenture’s ability to help global clients accelerate edge computing innovation.
Accenture has been growing its capabilities inorganically, acquiring 35 companies at a total cost of $5.2 billion in FY24 (YTD). Karthik Narain, group chief executive of Technology at Accenture, said, “With the rapid evolution of new technologies like generative AI and the growth of connected products, more intricate, specialized chips with enhanced performance and efficiency are required. Our acquisition of Excelmax enhances our expertise across every aspect of silicon design and development—from concept to production—so we can help our clients fuel innovation and drive growth.”
Shekhar Patil, founder & CEO of Excelmax Technologies, added, “Joining Accenture enables us to remain at the forefront of innovation, providing new and exciting opportunities for both our clients and our people.”
The semiconductor market is experiencing a surge in demand for silicon design engineering, driven by the proliferation of data centers and the increasing use of AI and edge computing. This trend is further propelled by the growing consumer appetite for electronics, leading to new investments in the chip design space. The engineering design space has seen significant M&A deals by global and Indian IT services players, with Cognizant recently acquiring Belcan in a $1.3 billion transaction and Infosys acquiring Germany-based in-tech for $480 million.