Image credits: Luminovo
Munich-based Luminovo, a SaaS startup, announced on Thursday that it has secured €11M in a seed round of funding led by Chalfen Ventures. Tencent, Verve Ventures, Khadjavi Capital Partners, and existing investors La Famiglia and Cherry Ventures also participated in the round.
The company says it will use funds to accelerate product development and grow its product engineering and revenue teams.
The announcement comes ten months after acquiring Electronic Fellows, a startup developing modern software for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers.
What does Luminovo solve?
The company says that there is a disconnect between the advancements built by research and development teams in labs and the commercialisation of these products. This is especially true for products that have the potential to change people’s lives, such as medical devices, electric car modules, and smart gadgets.
The systems currently in place to manage the global product chain are ineffective and must be fixed, according to the company. A lot of bureaucracy and fragmentation causes delays, costing billions of dollars and harming the environment. As a result, the overwhelming growth of electronics e-waste alone will reach 7.47M tonnes annually by 2030.
Sebastian Schaal, the founder of Luminovo, says, “We’re on a mission to rethink the entire electronics value chain to make it more efficient, effective, and impactful. It’s infuriating that the manufacturers and designers building the products that will change the world rely on excel spreadsheets and 20th-century communication tools to take their projects from design to production. We’re committed to having a lasting positive impact on this industry with Luminovo. We’re thrilled to have the support of Chalfen, Tencent, and Verve and our existing group of stellar investors on this journey with us.”
Luminovo: What you need to know
Founded in 2020 by Sebastian Schaal and Timon Ruban, Luminovo helps electronics leaders bring vital innovations to market faster and cheaper through its AI-powered software suite.
The German company has developed a unified data model and modular software suite to streamline and democratise the electronics development process, reducing time to market, and increasing revenue, productivity, and profitability.
For Electronics Manufacturers (EMS), the company’s software combines the quoting process, including material and production costing, in one cloud-based tool.
The software also automates many repetitive, manual parts of the process and allows manufacturers to focus on the more complex steps that need collaboration.
Timon Ruban, founder of Luminovo, says, “It’s been an incredible few years building Luminovo, and already we’re seeing the positive impact this tool is having across the electronics industry with over 50 customers who are building products that will be used in important sectors like industrial, healthcare, energy and others. But there’s still so much to do to transform this industry and enable manufacturers and developers to focus on creating technological solutions to the world’s biggest problems. It’s an exciting time for Luminovo, and we’re looking forward to scaling the business with the help of our remarkable investors.”
Investors
Chalfen Ventures is Mike Chalfen’s VC firm. Mike backs software startups aiming to grow and dominate new and unusual markets.
Mike Chalfen says, “Complex process-driven industries are ripe for transformation, but it often seems too hard for the people within them to make a change. Luminovo has designed products that are easy to adopt and deliver value fast. It is overcoming that resistance and is already making a big difference to its customers across the electronics industry. That is compelling when combined with its big vision. That combination is why I wanted to back Sebastian and Timon. I truly believe that Luminovo will become the defining software product for the electronics industry, and I look forward to working closely with Sebastian and Timon to help them achieve their vision fully.”
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