European tech firm opens design centre in Limerick

Company will grow its workforce here to 70 in the coming year

Denis Curran, IDA Ireland; Jackie O'Dowd, IDA Ireland; Marc Fernandez, corporate general manager; Cesc Guim, chief executive; enterprise minister Peter Burke; Michael Lohan, chief executive, IDA Ireland; Theresa Phelan, IDA Ireland; Robin Giller, chief product officer; Therese Jamaa, vice-president, strategic alliances and marketing and communications; and Peter Mangan, director of software engineering, at the official announcement of Openchip’s new design centre in Limerick City. Picture: Arthur Ellis

European chip developer Openchip has announced an expansion to its operations in Ireland, with the opening of a new design centre in Limerick, which will allow it to grow its workforce here to 70 in the coming year.

Headquartered in Barcelona in Spain, the company currently employs more than 350 people across Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium, France, Germany, and Ireland.

It is recognised by the European Commission as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI). The company integrates in-house designed, high-performance RISC-V–based — a type of microchip architecture — accelerators and systems-on-chip with full-stack software platform.

According to the Department of Enterprise, IPCEI are large-scale, EU multi-country projects and are an “increasingly important industrial policy tool for delivering breakthrough innovation and infrastructure when the market alone does not deliver”.

“IPCEI are a unique instrument for large-scale industrial collaborations across the EU, contributing to sustainable growth and increasing EU competitiveness.” 

The company’s new design centre in Limerick will be in the Gardens International building on Henry Street.

Openchip said the centre would feature state-of-the-art laboratories and modern office facilities and currently houses about 40 experienced Openchip research and development staff, a number expected to grow to 70 within the coming year.

According to the company, its Irish operations “already include senior leadership across product management, hardware and software engineering, architecture, and sustainability”.

Openchip chief executive Cesc Guim said the company’s expansion, including strategic locations in Europe like Ireland, was “key to building the robust, homegrown semiconductor, AI and advanced technologies ecosystem Europe needs”.

“By growing together, we will deliver the next generation of high-performance full-stack systems on chip and software innovation to contribute to Europe’s technological sovereignty.” 

The company’s chief product officer, Robin Giller, said there was an “incredible opportunity to help drive Europe’s AI infrastructure direction, and our Ireland operations are at the forefront of this effort, with our highly skilled workforce and ecosystem of partners”.

This project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

On the announcement, enterprise minister Peter Burke said the opening of the centre was a “strong endorsement” of “Ireland’s global reputation as a hub for research and development in semiconductor and advanced technologies”.