Best Firmware Development Companies

NOVO Engineering

San Diego-area product development firm with a 60-plus-person engineering team averaging 16 years of experience

Founded 2004 | Vista, CA, USA | 48–60 employees
firmware-developmentbare-metal-programmingmedical-device-firmwarehardware-co-design

What is NOVO Engineering?

NOVO Engineering was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Vista, California near San Diego, with a second location near Minneapolis and roughly 48 to 60 engineers depending on the source. The firm's services span hardware and software development, systems engineering, custom automation, and pre-production manufacturing support across medical devices, biotech instrumentation, printing technology, and commercial products. Its firmware work sits inside that broader systems-engineering practice rather than standing alone, which suits clients that need a single partner across mechanical, electrical, and firmware disciplines on one program.

NOVO Engineering works primarily with clients in Medical devices, Biotech, Printing technology, Commercial products sectors. Its primary differentiator is: Systems-engineering team averaging 16 years of experience per engineer across medical, biotech, and industrial product lines.

NOVO Engineering tech stack and services

CC++Embedded Systems ProgrammingCustom Automation Software
Service area
Firmware Development
Bare-Metal Programming
Medical Device Firmware
Hardware Co-Design

NOVO Engineering pricing

Short answer: NOVO Engineering uses a fixed-scope product engineering engagements pricing approach. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed; a discovery call is required.

Engagement model Typical range Best for
Fixed-scope product engineering From not disclosed Well-defined scope
Pre-production manufacturing support Variable; depends on team size Large programmes or team augmentation
NOVO Engineering does not publish a public rate card. Contact them directly via their website to get project-specific pricing.

NOVO Engineering pros and cons

Advantages Things to consider
+Engineering team averages 16 years of experience per engineer, well above the industry norm for a firm of its size -Firmware is one discipline inside a broader systems-engineering firm, not a standalone firmware specialist brand
+Systems engineering scope covers mechanical, electrical, and firmware together rather than firmware in isolation -48 to 60 engineers caps how many large concurrent programs the firm can run at once
+Two US locations near San Diego and Minneapolis give geographic coverage for onsite client work -No published pricing or minimum engagement figure
+Pre-production manufacturing support extends past firmware delivery into getting a product built

NOVO Engineering vs alternatives

How NOVO Engineering compares to the other top Firmware Development companies.

Company Best for Key difference Rating Compare
Lemberg Solutions RTOS and secure-firmware projects needing chip-vendor partnerships. Direct NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Microchip partner status combined with an in-house hardware lab for board bring-up 4.8 Full comparison
Product Creation Studio Medical device firmware bundled with industrial and mechanical... ISO 13485-certified product studio building firmware alongside the physical device rather than as a separate line item 4.6 Full comparison
Conclusive Engineering Automotive and healthcare firmware needing ISO 26262 or... Nordic Semiconductor and Texas Instruments partner status paired with FreeBSD depth most embedded firms don't carry 4.5 Full comparison
Voler Systems Ultra-low-power wearable and biomedical sensor firmware. 46 years of continuous operation with a firmware practice built specifically around ultra-low-power wearable constraints 4.5 Full comparison
Timesys Embedded Linux build systems and long-term security maintenance. Founding Yocto Project member with three decades of embedded Linux build-system and security-maintenance depth 4.5 Full comparison
DE Design Works Combined electronics and firmware design for small to... Firmware as a core service for more than 20 years rather than a capability added onto product design 4.4 Full comparison
ByteSnap Design Connected-device firmware needing in-house wireless and electronics design. Wireless protocol breadth across ZigBee, LoRa, Wi-Fi, BLE, and GSM combined with in-house electronics design 4.3 Full comparison
Emcraft Systems System-on-module hardware paired with a maintained Linux or... Self-maintained Linux and RTOS board support packages sold together with the ARM hardware modules that run them 4.3 Full comparison
Promwad Automotive and telecom firmware bundled with electronics and... ASIL-C functional-safety experience in automotive ECU and infotainment work alongside full-stack electronics design 4.3 Full comparison
WebbyLab Full-cycle IoT programs spanning firmware, cloud, and mobile. Full-cycle delivery from hardware selection through firmware and the connected application layer under one team 4.3 Full comparison
InTechHouse Enterprise programs needing a publicly disclosed, EU-certified R&D... Publicly listed on Warsaw's NewConnect market since 2015, giving financial transparency most private firmware vendors don't offer 4.2 Full comparison
Droid Technologies Embedded GUI and HMI development on LVGL, TouchGFX,... Embedded GUI and HMI development as the lead specialty, covering LVGL, TouchGFX, Qt, and Embedded Wizard 4.3 Full comparison
Ignitec Wearable technology firmware combined with electronics and mechanical... Wearable-technology engineering combining electronics, mechanical design, and firmware under strict power and size budgets 4.3 Full comparison
USA Firmware Small to mid-size programs wanting one accountable firmware... Managed design services spanning electrical engineering, firmware, FPGA, and Linux under a single discovery-to-production process 4.2 Full comparison
CMD MedTech Small medical device programs needing close, senior-level regulatory... Woman-owned small business built specifically around medical device systems, software, and regulatory support 4.2 Full comparison
Embitel Technologies Automotive ECU and infotainment firmware at production scale. Automotive-specific ECU and infotainment depth as a wholly owned Volkswagen Group subsidiary 4.2 Full comparison
Elektrobit (EB) Large-scale automotive firmware programs requiring ASIL D certification. ASIL D-certified automotive software running in more than 600 million vehicles as a Continental subsidiary 4.2 Full comparison
Witekio IoT firmware programs that also need component sourcing... Avnet subsidiary status connects embedded software delivery directly to component distribution and supply chain 4.1 Full comparison
Klika Tech IoT firmware designed around an AWS-based cloud backend... AWS IoT and DevOps competency partner status combined with STMicroelectronics hardware partnership 4.1 Full comparison
Oxalis Design Small connected-device programs needing direct access to senior... Founder-led two-person leadership team focused solely on electronics and embedded firmware, no broader IT practice attached 4.1 Full comparison
Lobaro GmbH LoRaWAN and low-power wide-area network firmware for industrial... LoRa Alliance membership and Nordic Semiconductor design partner status with deep LPWAN protocol experience 4.0 Full comparison
NeuronicWorks Firmware programs that need to carry through to... In-house path from firmware and hardware design through high-volume manufacturing, box build, and PCB assembly 4.0 Full comparison
EmLogic AS Zephyr RTOS firmware development and migration. Founding team with prior embedded-company-building experience concentrated specifically on Zephyr RTOS 4.0 Full comparison
ARCH-Embedded Cellular and positioning-technology firmware for connected and micro-mobility... Positioning-technology and cellular-connectivity specialty drawing on team experience from TomTom and micro-mobility products 4.0 Full comparison
N-iX Enterprise programs needing firmware work alongside cloud, data,... Enterprise-scale delivery capacity across 60-plus completed IoT and embedded projects inside a broader software engineering portfolio 4.0 Full comparison
Sigma Software Group Mid-to-large programs needing firmware alongside a broader multi-industry... Majority Swedish ownership since 2006 combined with a 1,100-plus person multi-country delivery footprint 4.0 Full comparison
Enginuity Inc. Defence, marine, and industrial automation programs where firmware... Multidisciplinary aerospace, defence, and marine engineering scope with firmware as one integrated capability among many 4.0 Full comparison
Softeq Full-stack hardware-to-cloud programs needing firmware plus a consumer... 28 years of full-stack hardware, firmware, mobile, and cloud delivery under one company 3.9 Full comparison
Developex Cross-platform software programs that also need device firmware... Cross-platform team-formation model spanning mobile, cloud, web, and desktop, with firmware as a named secondary specialty 3.9 Full comparison
A-listware Staff augmentation for firmware teams needing remote engineering... Remote engineering team delivery model with embedded firmware and legacy modernization as named service lines 3.9 Full comparison
Instinctools Enterprise IT modernization programs that include embedded firmware. Enterprise software heritage serving Fortune 500 clients, with embedded firmware as one applied domain among several 3.9 Full comparison
Waferlabs Embedded Technology Very small firmware and hardware design engagements needing... Founding team with prior Intel, Broadcom, and Qualcomm experience running a small embedded design practice 3.9 Full comparison
SNS Technosys Very small MCU and DSP firmware engagements on... Small, focused embedded product design practice covering both microcontroller and digital signal processor firmware 3.8 Full comparison

NOVO Engineering FAQ

What is NOVO Engineering?

San Diego-area product development firm with a 60-plus-person engineering team averaging 16 years of experience

How much does NOVO Engineering charge?

NOVO Engineering uses fixed-scope product engineering engagements pricing. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.

What tech stack does NOVO Engineering use?

NOVO Engineering works with C, C++, Embedded Systems Programming, Custom Automation Software. Primary industries served include Medical devices, Biotech, Printing technology, Commercial products.

Is NOVO Engineering right for enterprise?

Multi-disciplinary product programs spanning mechanical, electrical, and firmware. 48–60 team size. Key consideration: Firmware is one discipline inside a broader systems-engineering firm, not a standalone firmware specialist brand.

What are the best NOVO Engineering alternatives?

The best alternatives to NOVO Engineering depend on your use case. Top options are:

  • Lemberg Solutions: direct nxp, stmicroelectronics, and microchip partner status combined with an in-house hardware lab for board bring-up
  • Product Creation Studio: iso 13485-certified product studio building firmware alongside the physical device rather than as a separate line item
  • Conclusive Engineering: nordic semiconductor and texas instruments partner status paired with freebsd depth most embedded firms don't carry
See full alternatives list

Compare NOVO Engineering with other Firmware Development companies

Verify all details directly with NOVO Engineering before making a decision.