As a multinational company with offices in the US, China, and Romania, Digilent is able to provide high-value, expert quality solutions for a variety of customer needs. In addition to its own products, Digilent performs OEM design and manufacturing services for leading technology companies including Xilinx, Analog Devices, Cypress Semiconductor, and National Instruments.

Digilent was founded in 2000 by two Washington State University electrical engineering professors; Clint Cole and Gene Apperson. Cole and Apperson saw a need for a basic programming board to integrate with their class lectures. Students learn best by doing, so Cole and Apperson developed a teaching method that integrated lectures with hands-on learning by utilizing their boards. Soon, they were producing boards and selling them throughout the world, fulfilling their desire to make technology understandable and accessible to all. National Instruments acquired Digilent in 2013 and operates Digilent as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Digilent is a key member of NI’s family of companies focused on engineering education.