CASCODA LIMITED

Their core work

Cascoda is a UK semiconductor company that designs low-power wireless transceiver chips for IoT devices, specialising in the IEEE 802.15.4 radio standard that underpins Zigbee and Thread protocols. Their engineering focus is on improving receiver sensitivity and range so that a single chip can deliver reliable whole-house wireless coverage — solving one of the core reliability problems in smart home and building automation networks. They started by proving demand through a wireless smart energy management concept (MICROBAT) and then invested in developing a proprietary transceiver chip (SMARTRange) aimed at displacing incumbent silicon in the IoT connectivity market. In practical terms, they are a chip IP and hardware company, not a systems integrator — their output is silicon and firmware that other product makers embed.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015, Cascoda was operating at the application layer — exploring how wireless technology could serve smart energy systems (MICROBAT), which is a market need, not yet a chip company story. By 2019, they had moved decisively down the technology stack: SMARTRange is a chip-level play, targeting the silicon itself rather than end-user applications. This shift from application exploration to proprietary hardware IP is a classic deep-tech SME maturation path — validate the problem, then own the enabling component. There is no evidence of a pivot away from wireless or IoT; instead, the trajectory shows increasing technical depth within the same domain.

Cascoda is moving toward owning foundational wireless silicon IP for the IoT market — a future collaborator should expect a company that wants to be the chip supplier inside other people's products, not a systems-level partner.

How they like to work

Cascoda has operated exclusively as a solo coordinator on both EU projects, using the SME Instrument (Phase 1 and Phase 2) — a funding scheme specifically designed for individual companies with no consortium requirement. They have zero recorded consortium partners across their entire H2020 history, which is consistent with a company protecting proprietary chip IP rather than sharing development risk with partners. Anyone approaching them for collaboration should expect a vendor or licensor relationship rather than a joint R&D consortium dynamic.

Cascoda has no recorded consortium partners in H2020 data, operating as a standalone entity in both funded projects. Their network, if any, is commercial rather than academic — customer relationships with IoT product manufacturers rather than research partnerships.

What sets them apart

Cascoda occupies an unusual position as one of very few European SMEs attempting to compete in the wireless semiconductor space — a market dominated by large US and Asian chip companies. Their specific angle is improving receiver sensitivity in IEEE 802.15.4 chips, which addresses a real and persistent reliability complaint in Zigbee/Thread deployments. For a consortium builder, this means access to proprietary low-power radio hardware that is not available off the shelf — a genuine differentiator in smart building, smart energy, or industrial IoT proposals.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SMARTRange
  At EUR 900,675 this was a full SME Instrument Phase 2 grant — the EU's most competitive SME funding at the time — awarded to develop a chip-level wireless transceiver targeting the Zigbee and Thread IoT market, demonstrating that evaluators judged Cascoda's technology commercially viable at scale.
• MICROBAT
  A lean EUR 50,000 Phase 1 feasibility study in 2015 that effectively served as the proof-of-concept stepping stone for the much larger SMARTRange investment four years later.