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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →HDAC, Inc. became Averant, Inc. in May 2000. The company repositioned itself as an electronic-design-automation startup focused on static and formal verification of integrated circuits and digital IP; its best-documented product, Solidify, analyzed RTL designs beyond reliance on simulation vectors alone.
When did HDAC become Averant?
HDAC was founded in 1997. It announced its name change to Averant in May 2000. The company’s profile gives May 2000 as the rename date; contemporaneous reports were published by EDN on May 31 and EE Times on June 2, 2000.
Semiconductor Engineering identifies Ramin Hojati and Rick Carlson as HDAC’s co-founders and Hayward, California, as its headquarters. Averant’s own profile likewise describes the company as founded in 1997 under the HDAC name and renamed Averant in May 2000. Averant company profile · EE Times report · EDN announcement · Semiconductor Engineering company listing
Why did HDAC change its name?
Averant said the new name reflected its strategic focus on verification technology. Graham Bell, the company’s director of marketing, explained that “Aver” meant “confirm to be true,” while “-ant” suggested a proactive approach. He said, “We chose Averant for the way it sums up who we are today, and where we’re going next.”
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Bell also described the company’s ambition in a contemporaneous announcement: “We are changing the way ASIC designers do verification.” The rename therefore accompanied a positioning statement about the company’s work, not simply a change in branding. EE Times report · EDN announcement
What did Averant make?
Solidify: static functional verification for RTL
Solidify was Averant’s principal documented tool: a static functional-verification product for RTL designers working on ASIC blocks and IP cores. Its approach was to analyze designs without relying solely on simulation vectors, supporting exhaustive analysis at the block level. That describes a different verification approach from checking only the scenarios represented by a chosen set of simulation tests; it does not establish that Solidify replaced every part of a simulation-based workflow.
Averant described its audience as RTL designers, architects, and validation engineers building ASICs, IP cores, and programmable parts. Its company profile named ARM, Toshiba, Cypress, Canon, ATI, Hitachi, and NEC as customer examples. Averant company profile
Other tools in the Solid product line
Contemporaneous product information described three additional tools addressing specific design checks:
- SolidAC: automatic checking for common design problems.
- SolidPC: automatic AMBA protocol verification to check whether design modules complied with the protocol.
- SolidTC: automatic verification of false-path and multi-path timing constraints in timing-exception files.
These functions point to a product line covering design correctness, protocol compliance, and timing-constraint checks—not just one general-purpose verification tool. Averant Solidify product information
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was Averant a formal-verification company?
Yes, in the historical sense supported by the available company and product descriptions: Averant was an EDA startup focused on static and formal verification of complex integrated circuits and digital IP. Solidify’s static functional analysis is the clearest evidence of that focus, while SolidPC and SolidTC addressed protocol and timing-exception checks.
The record establishes Averant’s historical positioning, not its present-day operating status, ownership, or product availability. It also does not provide reliable published figures for revenue, funding, employee count, market share, or valuation, so those should not be inferred from the company’s product history.
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