OpenROAD in TinyTapeout: Rapid, Practical Education in Chip Design

In 2025, Tiny Tapeout sent 12 chips to 3 different foundries. We signed no NDAs and our 3 part time engineers did it for less than 100k euros.

10 years ago, it would have taken us 6 months just to get the paperwork signed with the foundries. We would have sold a stake in the company to pay for commercial EDA tools. Maybe we would have managed one chip with the same time and money.

Every startup is limited by time and money. OpenROAD and the other open source tools allow us to convert capital constraints into engineering iteration.

Each commit to a Tiny Tapeout chip repository rebuilds and validates the whole chip, including LVS, DRC, and formal verification. First the PDK is installed, along with LibreLane, OpenROAD, and the rest of the tools. Then the GitHub action builds the chip, triggers the simulations and finishes with GDS files ready for manufacture. The final commit hash of the repository is even readable on the top metal layer of our chips.

As we approach tapeout, we might have dozens of jobs all building and testing at once. With unlimited seats of OpenROAD running continuous integration automatically, we can innovate quickly, safely and with low stress - right up to the deadline. This stands in sharp contrast to the traditional flow, where engineers pull all-nighters making dangerous last-minute ECOs.

Our chips often include designs from young people making the first academic tapeouts their country has ever had manufactured. Instead of an abstract understanding, they get a visceral experience of a real tapeout.

Follow Matt Venn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-venn/
Find out more about his courses at https://www.zerotoasiccourse.com/
Tape out your own design at TinyTapeout.com
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