MegaChips is an unusual example of a Japanese company founded by an entrepreneur and bootstrapped into the largest ASIC company in Japan. Masahiro Shindo founded the company in 1990 as the country’s first fabless semiconductor company. The company was profitable in its first year of operation. The company has faced many challenges, including the 1992 economic downturn and the 1995 earthquake which forced 30% of the employees into evacuation centers. However, MegaChips overcame them all and continued to grow.
