Autonomous Driving V2X (vehicle-to-everything) semiconductor specialist "Ettifos" said on the 13th that it received "TI-1," the highest grade, in the investment technology evaluation (TCB) by NICE Information Service.
Ettifos said the evaluation recognized the differentiation and global market growth potential of its SDM (software-defined modem)-based 5G-V2X communication modem semiconductor IP technology.
NICE TCB is a system that comprehensively evaluates a corporation's management capabilities, technological prowess, marketability, and business feasibility, and classifies them into 10 grades from TI-1 to TI-10. Among them, TI-1 is the top grade awarded to corporations with top-tier technological strength and future growth potential, and it is used as a key metric in KOSDAQ's special technology listing evaluations.
NICE Information Service cited Ettifos's "SDM-based 5G-V2X communication modem semiconductor IP technology" as its core technology. The evaluation agency said Ettifos has secured its own hardware accelerators and protocol stacks; roadside units (RSU); on-board units (OBU); and the domestic ASIC chipset "ESAC (Ettifos SIRIUS Accelerator Chip)." It also received high marks for having a track record of technological reliability and performance verification through OmniAir and next-generation cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) certifications and global interoperability validation.
Ettifos's SDM technology implements the physical layer of wireless communications in software, enabling evolution from LTE-V2X to 5G-V2X via over-the-air (OTA) updates alone, without hardware replacement.
Developed on a Samsung Foundry basis, ESAC is a dual-mode ASIC that simultaneously supports LTE-V2X and 5G-V2X, proving world-class performance by achieving ultra-low latency of 1.883 ms and a communication range of 1,726 m in TTA-certified tests. ESAC completed packaging in Sep. last year, and this year it is slated for full-scale mass production and broader application to commercial product lines such as roadside units (RSU) and on-board units (OBU).
In Mar. this year, Ettifos was selected as the key equipment supplier for the V2X public infrastructure project in Maricopa County, Arizona, the first among domestic corporations. It also established an assembly and production base in Houston, Texas, to comply with the U.S. Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).
Meanwhile, Ettifos has raised a cumulative 30.5 billion won in funding, including a Series B round joined by the LIG Nex1-IBKC defense innovation fund and LB Investment. Recently, it was also selected in the system semiconductor category of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "2025 Super Gap Startup 1000+."
Chief Executive Kim Ho-jun of Ettifos said, "The TI-1 grade recognizes the competitiveness of Ettifos's SDM-based 5G-V2X communication modem semiconductor IP technology and ESAC chipset, as well as our global market growth potential," adding, "We will push to ramp up ESAC mass production in 2027 and expand orders in the U.S. and Japan, and in 2028, we will leap forward as a global V2X fabless semiconductor corporation through a special technology listing on KOSDAQ."