Aricent acquires SmartPlay; becomes no.1 product engineering firm

BENGALURU: Pure-play product engineering services firm Aricent has acquired SmartPlay Technologies for an undisclosed amount and the buyout makes Aricent as the #1 product engineering services firm in the semiconductor market, with more than 2,000 combined experts and relationships with 17 of the top 20 semiconductor companies.

It also expands Aricent’s services and expertise to help the world’s top innovators accelerate development of software, hardware and network products for the Internet of Things, a release said.

The acquisition expands Aricent’s 10,000-person engineering team and deepens its diversification strategy, which has helped it become one of the top 10 leaders in Global R&D Services – with recognized depth across nine industries: Telecommunications, Networking, Consumer Electronics, Industrial Automation, Semiconductor, Automotive, Internet Services, Consumer & Enterprise Software and Media & Entertainment.

Pradeep Vajram, Co-Founder and CEO of SmartPlay, will take on a new role as President of Aricent’s Semiconductor Business Unit. He reports to Frank Kern, Aricent’s Chief Executive Officer.

“SmartPlay has built a very impressive business over the last seven years, and we’re excited to welcome them to the Aricent family,” said Kern. “Our combined expertise in silicon, software and connectivity will help propel product development for our clients in some of the most exciting technology areas – working across automotive, consumer electronics, industrial automation, semiconductor and other industries.”

SmartPlay is one of the world’s fastest-growing services firms with 1,200 employees in India, Germany, Singapore and the US. It serves 80% of the top 20 semiconductor companies and received the Mentor Graphics Leadership Award for Best Electronics System Design Start-up. It was also ranked as a top employer in the 2015 Great Places to Work survey in India.

“Joining Aricent is a great cultural fit for the SmartPlay team, given our shared belief in high-quality, high-value product engineering services,” said Vajram. “We can now deliver a more powerful proposition to clients across industries that need smart silicon and embedded software to accelerate their R&D initiatives.”