Luminovo Acquires PCB Software Provider Electronic Fellows to Pioneer Next-Gen Software Suite

This article has been updated in May 2023.

We are proud to announce our first acquisition of the Wiesbaden-based startup Electronic Fellows. With this acquisition, we are adding dedicated modules for displaying, analysing and processing printed circuit boards (PCB) to our product portfolio and consistently pursue our journey towards developing a software suite for the complete process; from designing a new electronic product to bringing it to life.

Three products, two teams, one vision

“With this novel software suite, we support companies with digital and data-driven processes to positively leverage the ever-growing demand for electronic products and innovations. By providing a better overview of sourcing alternatives, uncovering risks and automating manual activities, we achieve fast and adaptable processes. Our long-term goal is to transfer manufacturing knowledge from the end of the value chain to the beginning to help our customers avoid costly mistakes and better meet demand,” explains our founder Sebastian Schaal.

He continues, “The acquisition not only brings us a second ready-to-sell product. Sharing features and insights between Electronic Fellows' product Stackrate and our software Luminovo also immediately opens up new opportunities for collaboration between companies in the electronics value chain."

Electronic Fellows founder Florian Herborn adds, “With Stackrate, PCB manufacturers can already generate precise quotes for even complex PCBs in a matter of minutes. Soon, it will also be possible to provide these quotes in real-time via modern API interfaces. Our merger with Luminovo will make these quotation interfaces available to the broad EMS market. In this way, we will contribute a significant step to the interconnectedness of the electronics industry and considerably speed up existing processes.”

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How the union creates value

Our present proficiencies are focused on EMS providers that cover high-mix-low-volume production. Luminovo joins, digitizes, and automates the quotation and sourcing processes including material and manufacturing calculations. The software also simplifies collaboration within EMS providers and with external stakeholders through modules like the BOM Importer and the BOM Digital Twin. These modules automatically organize and turn clients’ BOMs into digital versions, on which team members can collaborate before aligning sourcing options with suppliers or clients. This enables EMS companies that are dealing with high numbers of requests for quotations from diverse customers to complete them faster, offer more competitive prices, and increase their customer satisfaction.

Electronic Fellows is working to simplify the quoting process for PCB manufacturers. The suite of modules developed supports manufacturers throughout the process: from customer management, Gerber data analysis, layer setup and management, to accurate costing and quotation document generation. In combination with the PCBport product (ed.: no longer existing on its own), Stackrate's customers also have the option of calculating prices for selected projects in an automated manner, making quotations available in real-time.

The first items on our joint agenda are the unification and transfer of the two products in order to multiply their added value. PCBport and Stackrate's PCB analysis and visualization modules will be integrated into Luminovo. This makes it possible to seamlessly feed queries into Stackrate. Furthermore, this union enables advanced, real-world Design for Manufacturing (DFM) for connected PCB suppliers.

Building an impactful company

For the Luminovo team, the acquisition has been the cherry on top of a current momentum. Only seven months after the official launch, our customer base has already soared to over 25 active accounts. Since the last financing round in 2020, our team has almost tripled in size, adding 19 colleagues from more than ten different nationalities. The recent commitment to a hybrid setup has also widened the pool of outstanding talent to be considered for future hiring. We're currently scouting for a couple of leading roles on deck and believe that only with an outstanding team can we build the foundation for an impactful company. So, if you have been looking for a sign to apply at a young start-up with large ambitions, this is it. Take a look at our open roles.