Axal

Axal is an engineering services company that takes hardware teams from design files or early prototypes to assembled, tested printed circuit boards. Its scope covers schematic design and design review, component selection, PCB layout, power design, design-for-manufacturability checks and revisions; bill-of-materials sourcing and procurement, including identifying alternative parts when components are long-lead or unavailable; in-house assembly with component placement, soldering and rework; quality verification using methods such as X-ray inspection and electrical testing; and delivery of boards with build and quality documentation. Firmware and software development are explicitly out of scope.

The company positions itself as a single point of contact across steps that hardware teams would otherwise split among separate design houses, parts distributors, assemblers and test vendors. Customers can engage at any stage: an idea, a working prototype built on a development board such as an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, an existing PCB that needs redesign for cost, reliability, form factor or production, or completed design files ready for build. Axal's Y Combinator profile also describes reviewing or creating PCB designs, identifying manufacturers, coordinating production, inspecting and testing every board, handling manufacturing issues, and delivering finished boards to the customer's office, with stated goals of reducing manufacturing errors and shortening iteration cycles.

Founding story

Axal was founded by Samai Patel and Nand Vinchhi, who serves as co-founder and CTO. Patel studied computer science and cybersecurity, worked at Amazon Leo at age 20, and founded an engineering and app development club in college that built prototype hardware and software projects for large enterprises including Booz Allen, General Dynamics and Mitsubishi. The company describes its team as hardware-minded founders and engineers from Amazon and Microsoft.

Business model

Services-based: Axal is described on its Y Combinator profile as a services company delivering PCB design, sourcing, assembly, testing and delivery work for client hardware teams, either as individual steps or the full path from design to delivered board.

Traction

The company states it has helped teams move from no PCB design to a working delivered board in as little as two weeks, and that it works with teams shipping products in agriculture, smart glasses, medical devices, robotics and other hardware categories.

Latest developments

Axal launched its current offering as a services company designing, assembling and testing custom PCBs for hardware startups in days, framed around building more hardware in the United States. Its Y Combinator primary partner is Jared Friedman.