Ciao Y Combinator! We’re Davide and Lenny from Diode Computers, Inc.

TL;DR: Diode is an end-to-end platform for circuit board design. With the help of AI, we can finish a months-long design project in days, and then ship working boards straight to your door.

Try out our designer at https://pcb.new/, or shop generated boards at https://pcb.store/.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOoG2gl8wdY

Problem

Designing printed circuit boards (PCBs) is really hard. Existing tools provide little opportunity for design reuse, so most projects are started from scratch. Since there’s no good way to test your design, your best bet is to just order them and hope for the best.

Thought you were done? Nope — ordering PCBs is a pain too. Now you need to source the components, ship them across the globe to your manufacturer, and constantly be on the lookout for part shortages and replacements. It’s a full-time job.

Solution

Diode solves this by owning the entire PCB design process end-to-end. It starts with a core of composable, reusable modules that users can stitch together to build their boards. When new use cases come up, our AI generator creates new modules in seconds instead of days. And with rigorously-tested modules instead of de novo designs, we can be confident that each board works first try.

We then take the user’s design and automatically translate it into manufacturing requirements to send to the factory. We stockpile all of the necessary components to remove the burden of supply chain management from users and amortize the cost of parts across all designs.

The result is an all-in-one platform for hardware design: describe what you need and get working boards delivered to your door.

Why

In a past life, we designed hardware at companies like Apple, and we encountered a problem: PCBs never worked on the first try. At best, they required micro-soldering surgery under a microscope and, at worst, a whole new board. These issues were driving us mad, so we started a company to fix it.

We want to make hardware design work more like software. Fast iteration cycles, reusable components with clean composition, and one-click ordering to build your products fast and cheap. Our vision is to turn PCB design into a software problem.

P.S. Want a customized NFC business card with your logo? Get your own: https://pcb.store/products/nfc-business-card