An Edinburgh-based technology company has won a second key contract with the US Government and is now looking to grow in the UK and internationally as demand increases for its “cutting-edge” software.
Codeplay, already a “world-leader” in the artificial intelligence (AI) technology used in devices such as self-driving vehicles and drones, has been selected by the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Labs to supply its software to a second supercomputer called Frontier.
Frontier, one of the highest performance computers in the world today – with a computational power of 1.5 exaFLOPS – will be used by researchers working in diverse areas such as medicine, alternative energy, environment, high-energy and nuclear physics, advanced computing, materials science and chemistry.
On the back of this success, and “strong demand” from some of the largest tech companies in the world, Codeplay is expecting its team of skilled software developers and computer scientists to increase from 80 to over 100 over the next year.
The tech firm’s clients include chip firms Intel and Broadcom as well as IP Suppliers Synopsys and CEVA.
Additionally, having recently established a European presence in Ireland, the “pioneering” company is looking at further growth opportunities in Europe, as well as in Asia and North America.
Charles Macfarlane, chief business officer at Codeplay, said: “Having won our first contact with the National Labs in February, a second prestigious contact to support one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers is an incredible endorsement of Codeplay and our technology.
“Much more than an important commercial win, this engagement from the Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories in the US will further enhance our already strong reputation enabling supercomputers. Significantly it shows that our software is portable to almost any hardware – our first engagement with the National Labs was on Nvidia processors – while this is for use on AMD processors.
“Enabling artificial intelligence and supercomputers are the most progressive technologies today and bring the toughest software challenges to overcome.”
He added: “We believe our industry-leading software engineers are the best in the world and to maintain our leadership position we need to constantly invest in the best talent. High profile engagements and collaborations with organisations like the National Labs will only help us attract the highest calibre of people.
“We are entering a period of accelerated growth, be that it automotive, where manufacturers are constantly looking to push the boundaries of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), in supercomputing, smartphones or any of the many markets with artificial intelligence.”
According to the company, its reputation and skills were a big contributor to Frontier’s decision.
A spokesperson said: “Codeplay has provided tools, support and leadership in these technologies which makes Codeplay an obvious first choice. Being a non-US company provides extra need for justification, indicating the company strengths to overcome this hurdle.”
Foresight Group, which supports innovative British companies at the cutting edge of technology, invested in Codeplay in 2018.
Foresight director, Chris Wardle, said: “Codeplay is doing a brilliant job in flying the flag for the UK at the cutting edge of the global tech sector, and we are delighted to see the team gaining further traction with the National Labs in the US.
“We are proud to support Codeplay during this exciting phase of growth and job creation and look forward to its continued progress in a fast-moving and disruptive sector.”
