Plunify launches SaaS platform that integrates FPGA design tools

12/8/2010 7:59 PM EST

Harnhua Ng and Kirvy Teo started Plunify in 2008 to make PLDs easier to design and use. Plunify stands for "Programmable Logic Unify." They are on a mission to provide a simple, one-stop, integrated online platform. The two engineers bring both education and directly relevant work experience to offering an innovative SaaS platform for FPGA design.

• HarnHua Ng has an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He has developed FPGA-based customer solutions at Xilinx and worked on system firmware at Advanced Micro Devices.
• Kirvy Teo has a BS in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore and has worked as a Systems Analyst before starting his own text messaging and web services company in 2004.

Plunify offers Software as a Service (SaaS) that enables FPGA designers to create FPGA applications faster and cheaper through Cloud Computing. We have integrated two open source simulators--Icarus Verilog and GHDL for VHDL--and support both Xilinx's WebPACK Design Software (11.1 and 12.1) and Altera's Web Edition (9.1 SP1, 9.1 SP2, and 10.0)

The beauty of Plunify's SaaS approach is that an FPGA designer can login via a browser and immediately start working on a project. This saves time by avoiding software installation, configuration and maintenance. We give designers the option of using any version of the tools that their design requires.

Q: What have you learned in developing the service?

Q: Your website still says beta, has that deterred folks from signing up?

We are still in beta but we are happy to say we have more than 120 designers from 30 countries currently using the product. Most became aware of us through either Google AdWords or our contributions to a number of on-line forums devoted to FPGA design. China in particular has a burgeoning FPGA design community.

We have received very helpful feedback from our early adopters and continue to refine the product. We continue to offer free accounts for evaluation purposes, designers can register on our site.

Q: How have you changed since you started?

Our initial motivation was to act like a FPGA consultant, helping engineers to evaluate the myriad FPGA offerings out there in the market. Using a custom automated platform, we generate interactive reports that help designers evaluate their FPGA options. We decided to offer a SaaS approach based on Cloud Computing because it is a very low cost and flexible computing platform that we can scale easily on demand.

As we spoke to more users we learned that finding the best chip for an FPGA application was not that important for them. Many times, decisions had already been made before they started working on the design. Or engineers might simply hedge their bets by using as large a chip as they could realistically target.

Designers were more concerned about resource and automation problems, which were the same problems that had bothered us when we were experimenting with different FPGA designs. FPGA designers want cheap and flexible compute resources, ways to cut down the processing time and shorten design cycles. They need a simple system to maintain multiple versions of design tools and test new versions to ensure compatibility with their designs.

Q: What key skill or experience did you lack when you started that has caused you the most problem?

For now, the lack of network and contacts is our biggest challenge.

Being relatively younger founders, we lack a wide network of potential customers and also don't have the right connections at the right levels in the FPGA chip makers. To a certain extent, not being physically in Silicon Valley can also be a disadvantage. We can relocate but we also need time to steadily build up experience in sales / marketing, raising funds and getting partnership deals.

Q What has been the biggest surprise: what was one key assumption you made, perhaps even unconsciously, that has caused the most grief?

Working with larger companies has taken longer than we would have liked.

Q: What development, event, or new understanding since you started has had the most impact on your original plan? How has your plan changed in response?

Thanks to our users, gaining a deeper understanding of the FPGA eco-system has had the most impact. We are very grateful for the advice and feedback from people we meet--some with ASIC backgrounds, EDA experience, FPGA designers, managers, investors, Cloud Computing experts and industry bloggers.

Originally we started out as "automated consultants" with a single feature. Now, it is part of a larger solution for FPGA designers. Our plans changed from creating a user-friendly interface to a more interactive and integrated software platform with a robust backend. This shift also affected fund-raising discussions. With better understanding of our market, we learned to better prioritize strategic planning and product development. It is really a tremendous learning experience

Q: Thanks for your time.

Sean Murphy is CEO of SKMurphy, Inc, a consulting firm that offers customer development services for entrepreneurs with a focus on early customers and early revenue.