Ittiam ups its European profile

Ittiam Systems, a global leader in digital signal processing (DSP) technology, is seeking to raise its profile in Europe to exploit the synergy between its own technological prowess and the continent's leadership in wireless and communications technologies.

Ittiam sees an opportunity of $5-10 million in Europe in three years by which time it hopes to raise the continent's share of its global revenues to 25 per cent, said Srini Rajam, Chairman and CEO. Presently US and Asia lead with a share of 40 per cent each, followed by Japan and Europe with a share of 10 per cent each.

To up its European presence, Ittiam has launched a European subsidiary based in Paris to give it a greater customer proximity.

This is its second after the first subsidiary based in the US.

Marc Guillaumet, who will head Ittiam Systems in Europe, said over phone from Paris that OEM suppliers in Europe were finding it increasingly necessary to have a development link with India and procuring technology from an India-based firm was much more feasible than setting up a captive.

Ittiam already has a headcount of 200 which will grow to 240 by the year-end and 300 by next year. By this yardstick, it will become "the largest intellectual property-driven DSP firm in the world," Rajam said. Innovative firms typically have far lower head counts than service providers.

Ittiam plans to lead its European charge with the latest product category in its portfolio "� software and chip designs for digital video surveillance.

The opportunity in this area is large as the world quickly transits from analog to digital capture and transmission.

This technology, which Ittiam showcased for the first time at a key global securities technology conference in Birmingham recently, won wide appreciation, Rajam said.

It will enable digital capture, recording and delivery via the internet of multiple video streams through a single chip.

The firm's established offerings are portable media players and IP video phones for which it delivers proprietary software, chip design and design of the entire product in the shape in which it reaches the consumer. Some of its high profile customers are Texas Instruments (Ittiam works extensively on TI platforms), Honeywell, ST Microelectronics and Microsoft.

In its six years' of existence, Ittiam has absorbed $11.5 million of funding, with the last round coming in from the Bank of America in 2004. The firm which has filed for 30 patents has turned cash positive.