About
Our History
Founded in January 2020 with a clear mission: bring world-class ASIC design expertise home to Thessaloniki, Greece.
Company Founded
Thess IC was founded by Cortus SAS and a team of repatriated experienced designers who returned home to Thessaloniki, Greece. Cortus SAS brought their proprietary processor IP portfolio and complete software ecosystem, forming the technological foundation the company was built upon.
Team Expansion
The founding team expanded with two experienced digital designers, establishing the analog-digital engineering balance that defines Thess IC today.
CioT25 Tape-Out
A sub GHz SoC, designed for the 433 MHz, 868 MHz and 915 MHz unlicensed ISM bands. Provides ultra low-power multi-year battery life at the same time as a range of up to 2 km outdoors or 300m inside a steel reinforced concrete building (Indoor penetration) Addressable market examples : smart-home, smart agriculture/farming, smart parking, Smart meter, digital signage, medical portable
Joined HETiA
Became a member of the Hellenic Emerging Technologies Industry Association, strengthening ties with the broader Greek tech ecosystem.
In-House Lab Established
Launched an internal measurement and characterization lab, enabling the team to validate silicon performance in-house — a critical step toward becoming a self-sufficient design center.
First Automotive Chip Tape-Out
The first chip was taped out, targeting the automotive market. It included innovative blocks that form the foundation of Thess IC's product roadmap.
CIoT25 Engineering Sample Validation
Successful validation of engineering samples for the CIoT25 product — a key milestone in the path from silicon to market.
EU Grant — €100,000
Thess IC received a €100,000 non-refundable grant through the 'Elevating Greek Startups against COVID-19' initiative — an EU-co-financed action supporting high-potential startups in the National Register.
LOTUS 1 Tape-Out
The Lotus 1 is a cost-effective low power SoC RISC-V microcontroller suitable for a wide range of applications. Features a RISC-V RV32IMAFC CPU capable of running at up to 40 MHz from single cycle Flash memory. The CPU features floating point and hardware integer parallel multiply and divide, and the compact instruction set which improves code density. The 24 KBytes of RAM and 256 KBytes of single cycle Flash enable complex applications to be implemented. 6 independent prescaled 16 bit timers with 4 channels each, provide PWM control fully suitable, for example, for driving three phase H-bridges for motor control. Addressable market examples: Advanced motor control, embedded control, battery powered devices, sensors, personal electronics
ULYSS 1 Tape-Out
The ULYSS1 is the first microcontroller (MCU) from a whole ULYSS family covering all automotive MCU market segments. It is designed to answer the automotive mass market segment. It is a high performance (3.32 DMIPS/MHz) low power microcontroller. It features a RISC-V (RV32IMAFC) ISA CPU running at up to 120 MHz. Addressable market examples : Automotive body control, motor control, HVAC control, automation, embedded control, sensors.
ULYSS2 Tape-Out
The ULYSS2 has been specified to answer the automotive market segment. It is a high performance, 5.89 DMIPS/MHz/core, low power microcontroller It features a RISC-V (RV32IMAFC) ISA quad core CPU lockstep running up to 800MHz. The lock step CPU core is a 32-bit processor with single precision floating point instructions and a compact instruction set extension that significantly improves code density making best use of the up to 16MBytes of EEC Flash memory. The I-cache is parity protected. The ULYSS2 has a rich peripheral set enabling a very wide range of applications, specifically close to sensor designs communicating with upstream systems. Addressable market examples : Automotive body control, motor control, HVAC control, automation, embedded control, sensors. Certifications ISO26262 ASIL-D and/or IEC 61508 AEC Q100/1
Values
How we work
We believe in transparent communication, collaborative teamwork, and continuous learning. We offer flexible work arrangements and a genuine commitment to work-life balance — because the best chip designs come from engineers who have room to think.