Blaze DFM

About Blaze DFM

Blaze DFM was a developer of electrical design for manufacturability (DFM) solutions aimed at integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor companies, and silicon foundries. The company was founded in 2004 and was based in Sunnyvale, California. Its software products included BLAZE MO, which performed leakage power optimization on chips, and BLAZE IF, which was designed to meet foundry chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) requirements for density and smoothness.

The company was co-founded by Dr. Andrew Kahng, a noted DFM pioneer, and its CEO was Jacob Jacobsson. Blaze DFM secured multiple rounds of funding, including a Series A round in October 2004 and a Series B round in March 2007, with investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, El Dorado Ventures, and Mobius Venture Capital. A significant milestone was its merger with Aprio Technologies in 2007, which combined Aprio's lithography simulation and analysis with Blaze's electrical analysis to create a more comprehensive DFM offering. The company had gained traction with major clients like STMicroelectronics and Qualcomm.

In February 2009, Blaze DFM was acquired by Tela Innovations, marking its exit from the market as an independent entity.