UST and KITVEN Fund Invest in Calligo Technologies to Enable Development of POSIT-powered RISC-V Solution for HPC and AI Markets in 2022

BENGALURU, India, March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UST and Karnataka Information Technology Venture (KITVEN), through its Semi-Conductor Venture Fund and SFAL have jointly invested in Calligo Technologies for developing a Posit enabled RISC-V multicore processor (System-on-chip) to power accelerator boards targeting HPC & AI segments under 'Make in India' initiative.

Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, had recently said that India has no option but to be 'atmanirbhar' (self-reliant) when it comes to semiconductors and this sector has brought new possibilities for Make in India - at a post-budget webinar on 'Make in India for the World' organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

The SoC code-named TUNGA is capable of doing computations using the Posit Number System (PNS) and will be powered by the RISC-V processor integrated with the Posit Numeric Unit (PNU), creating a highly power-efficient and computationally accurate core CRISP (Calligo RISC-V with Posit). The alpha version consisting of ASIC silicon and the accelerator card is planned for release by the end of 2022.

Commenting on the innovative product development, Gilroy Mathew, VP & Global Head of Semiconductor Engineering, UST, said, "UST is always at the forefront of innovation. Our joint effort to develop CRISP-based SoC will transform us to build more innovative AI & HPC Silicon Chipsets for our worldwide customers."

UST and Calligo believe that Posit is a game-changing, disruptive invention at a grass-root level that can create new standards for computing. Posit Numeric Unit (PNU) takes less circuitry than IEEE FPU. For the same no of bits, Posit gives a lot better accuracy, higher dynamic range and entropy per bit, thus allowing the replacement of 64-bit floats with 32-bit Posit safely in many cases. By 2023, the world of computing devices is expected to grow exponentially from 10 to 25 Billion, primarily due to the high demands in the market segments like mobile, automotive, embedded and IoT. TUNGA SoC will be able to power these segments from edge to datacentre.

Anantha Kinnal, Chairman and Managing Director, Calligo Technologies, said, "In building TUNGA SoC, Calligo will expand from its software-only focus to end-to-end Product offering consisting of Silicon, Board, Firmware, Software and Applications for the emerging markets. Calligo's accelerator board, as an add-on to any standard Server, is expected to significantly increase the performance of HPC and AI systems. Bluespec's Octopus will be an integral part of this overall solution."

Karnataka IT Venture (KITVEN) CEO, Mr. A. R. Jayakumar quoted, "Our vision is to provide long-term capital to early and growth-stage start-ups in the State of Karnataka in specific focus areas to enable them to build competitive products and solutions. We are thrilled to invest in Calligo and aid their product development in accelerating HPC and AI workloads."

SFAL through its eco-system has enabled Calligo with EDA tools and silicon manufacturing.

About UST

For more than 22 years, UST has worked side by side with the world's best companies to make a real impact through transformation. Powered by technology, inspired by people, and led by our purpose, we partner with our clients from design to operation. We identify their core challenges and craft disruptive solutions that bring their vision to life through our agile approach. With deep domain expertise and a future-proof philosophy, we embed innovation and agility into our clients' organizations—delivering measurable value and lasting change across industries and worldwide. Together, with over 29,000 employees in 30 countries, we build for boundless impact—touching billions of lives in the process. Visit us at ust.com.

About KITVEN

Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund (KITVEN) is a State & Central Government financial institution backed Venture Capital Fund (VCF) operating in the State of Karnataka since 1999. KITVEN is investing in various start-up companies in different sectors through its semi-conductor venture fund, Bio-tech venture fund and AVGC Venture Fund. As a partner, KITVEN Fund invested in emerging companies with a long-term investment approach thereby to build commercial value to their investors/ contributors. For more information, visit  www.kitven.in 

About SFAL

Semiconductor Fabless Accelerator Lab (SFAL) is a K-Tech CoE for Fabless community. It's an initiative funded by the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T of Government of Karnataka through its Karnataka Innovation Technology Society (KITS). For more information, visit https://www.sfalcoe.com/.

About Calligo Technologies

Calligo Technologies is a category-defining data science and machine learning products and services company based out of Bangalore, focused on helping organizations translate these technologies into quantifiable business impact. It aims to fuel the next frontier of powerful computing technology and unlock discoveries with its end-to-end Silicon, Big Data, AI, and HPC offerings. For more information, visit Calligo Technologies. 

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