Luminovo acquires Electronic Fellows to avoid crises such as the current chip shortage stifling PS5 supply; here’s how

Munich-based Luminovo, a SaaS startup aimed at digitising and automating the quoting process for new electronic products, announced that it has acquired Electronic Fellows, a startup developing modern software for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers.

The company has not disclosed the transaction amount but said it comprises a cash and equity combination.

With this acquisition, Electronic Fellows’ founders Florian Herborn, Nils Minor, and Samuel Leisering will become shareholders in Luminovo. The company will maintain offices in Munich and Wiesbaden and plans to further extend the functions of the Wiesbaden team.

Electronic Fellows’ founders will continue to push the domain of PCBs within Luminovo by expanding the PCB manufacturer product and encapsulating horizontal modules to make them accessible across the emerging product suite.

About Electronic Fellows

Electronic Fellows believe existing tools that are used in the field of circuit board manufacture are out of date and do not correspond to the current state of the art. Therefore, it is building software solutions to digitise and increase the interconnectedness of the electronics value chain. 

Their first software, Stackrate, is already used by PCB manufacturers. The collaborative platform analyses production data in the PCB environment and transforms the entire quoting process.

Florian Herborn says, “With the acquisition, we will be able to merge two tech stacks into one unified product suite in order to immediately boost the efficiency of the quote and order processes in the electronic manufacturing sector.”

“In the long run, more connected, data-driven, and efficient processes will support our customers in uncertain times like, for example, the current chip shortage. Increasing demand and long-term developments like skilled labour shortage will challenge the tight and global electronics supply chain more and more frequently. Held up PS5s, cars, and bikes are only now revealing the impact of this industry. Our products support companies in the electronics value chain to foresee issues, and react faster and better to avoid crises,” adds Florian.

How does this acquisition help Luminovo?

As PCBs represent the most complex parts in every electronic product, the acquisition allows Luminovo to pioneer new value chain collaboration and work on building the next-gen software suite for electronics.

Sebastian Schaal, founder of Luminovo explains, “The acquisition of Electronic Fellows manifests our ambition to build software products that rethink the way electronic products are designed and brought to life. Electronics represents a rapidly growing trillion-dollar market and, at the same time, a bottleneck for some of the biggest challenges of our time. Health crises, sustainability, and other topics will not just require software but substantially faster hardware innovation cycles.” 

“Besides adding a second ready-to-sell product to our portfolio, the acquisition allows us to share features and insights between Electronic Fellows’ product Stackrate and our current flagship LumiQuote and thereby unlock a new way for stakeholders to work together,” adds Schaal.

This acquisition is a special highlight for Luminovo as the company has already escalated to over 25 active accounts after launching officially just 7 months ago. Since its last funding, the team has also tripled, adding 19 employees from more than 10 different nationalities. 

With this acquisition, the company can also widen its search for talents in the near future.

What does Luminovo offer?

Founded in 2017 by Sebastian Schaal and Timon Ruban, Luminovo is a SaaS provider for the electronics industry. It aims to bring innovations faster to everyone by reducing the time and resources needed to go from an idea to a market-ready electronic product. 

The company’s software rethinks processes for OEMs, EMS, and distributors to accelerate technological progress. Their electronics operating system is designed to make these processes more collaborative, data-driven, and automated, enabling clients to benefit from streamlined workflows.

One of the company’s products is LumiQuote. It is the next generation EMS RfQ software with a data-driven and collaborative approach. It claims to process more quotations in less time, achieves higher hit rates with more competitive quotes, and in the process transform the business to be future-proof.

Luminovo also works with leading EMS providers in Europe to develop an easy-to-use tool and a future-oriented solution to challenges like part and skills shortages.