A Glasgow-based chip company, founded in 1992, best known for the USB bridge chips that let computers talk to devices, with a growing range of display and microcontroller products.
FTDI designs chips that connect devices to computers. It is best known for USB bridge chips such as the FT232R, which let older serial connections and modern USB connections work together, and which engineers and hobbyists have used for decades in everything from lab equipment to Arduino-style boards. It also makes the EVE family of chips for driving small colour displays and a family of 32-bit microcontrollers, and it offers ASIC design and product consultancy. Its drivers and software tools come alongside the chips.
Fred Dart founded FTDI on 13 March 1992 after running a one-man consultancy designing PC motherboards and peripherals. The initials FTD are also in his name. It started as a small company in Scotland making PC chipsets, with IBM among its early customers, and moved to USB interface chips when USB appeared. It took about 10 years to reach critical mass, was self-funded and, according to a 2016 interview, is independent and debt-free. In 2016 it spun off Bridgetek to focus on microcontrollers and displays.
FTDI's headquarters is in Glasgow, Scotland, where its chip design and management are based. The 2016 interview named five offices: Glasgow, Portland in Oregon, Taipei, Shanghai and Singapore, with the Singapore office doing research and development only. About 130 people worked for the company worldwide at that time, in research and development, technical support, sales, purchasing, logistics, finance and administration. That figure is from 2016, and we did not find a UK-only headcount or a current number.
The company's stated mission is "Bridging Technologies": helping engineers and makers get products to market faster and with less support. Fred Dart values self-education and community contributions such as tutorials, drivers and examples. We did not find a culture page or staff stories. In 2014 an FTDI driver update that disabled counterfeit chips drew heavy criticism, and the company withdrew it; that episode is public record and shows how closely engineers watch the company's choices.
A small chip company like this uses many types of people: analogue and digital chip designers, firmware and driver developers, test and applications engineers who help customers, and people in sales, logistics, purchasing and finance. It is a good example of a world-class technology company based in Scotland rather than in a large technology centre. Electronics, computer science and software engineering are the typical paths. Check FTDI's website for current openings in Glasgow.
Website: ftdichip.com
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