Boldport

What Boldport does

Boldport is a UK-registered electronics design studio (Boldport Limited) operating as a solo founder-led business out of London, with a secondary registered address in Amarante, Portugal. Founded by Saar Drimer — who holds a PhD in hardware security from the University of Cambridge and an electrical engineering degree from UC Santa Cruz — the company specializes in visually distinctive soldering kits, limited-edition circuit board art, and bespoke PCB design. Its core technical differentiator is PCBmodE, a proprietary open-source (MIT-licensed) PCB design tool developed in-house and used exclusively since 2013 to produce PCB aesthetics not achievable with mainstream EDA tools. The product portfolio comprises approximately 35 distinct projects ranging from entry-level practice boards (£3) to advanced kits (£24) and limited-edition art pieces (e.g., 580-copy Dreamer), alongside apparel.

Boldport operates a community-led go-to-market model centered on the Boldport Club, a lifetime membership accessed via a minimum £30 purchase that grants entry to a Discord server where members share builds and receive support. Distribution is conducted through the company's direct e-commerce site and two retail partners — Pimoroni (UK) and Whadda (Belgium) — with shipping from the UK. Revenue is generated entirely through one-time product sales; the prior subscription model was retired in January 2019 in favor of the lifetime structure. The customer base consists of intermediate-to-expert electronics hobbyists and makers, with no enterprise or volume contracts identified. The company is bootstrapped with no external institutional investment.

Name

Boldport

Legal name

Boldport Limited

Website

https://boldport.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Boldport is a UK-based, solo-founder electronics design studio creating visually distinctive soldering kits and limited-edition circuit board art for intermediate-to-expert electronics hobbyists, sold direct and through Pimoroni/Whadda.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

DIY Electronics & Soldering Kits

NAICS

Bare Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing (334412)

SIC

Printed Circuit Boards (3672)

akta.pro primary industry

PCB, Prototyping Boards & Etching Supplies Retail (CRACAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Modding, RGB Lighting & Aesthetics Components (HDACAGAL)

Keywords

• Circuit board design
• Soldering kits
• PCB design software
• Open source hardware
• DIY electronics projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct sales of soldering kit projects, bare circuit boards, circuit board art, apparel, and stickers through the Boldport e-commerce shop. Products range from £3 (practice boards) to £30 (advanced kits). Projects are also available through Pimoroni and Whadda.
2. Club Membership: Life membership of the Boldport Club is gained by making a £30 or more purchase. The main benefit is access to the Discord community server. Membership was previously subscription-based (until January 2019) and is now lifetime upon purchase.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Boldport designs, manufactures and sells visually distinctive electronics soldering kits, bare printed circuit boards, and limited-edition circuit board art pieces targeted at experienced electronics hobbyists. All PCB artwork is produced using PCBmodE, the company's proprietary open-source circuit board design software that enables visual aesthetics not achievable with standard EDA tools. Beyond self-designed products, Boldport also accepts commissioned research, development, prototyping and manufacturing work for external clients.

Product overview

Boldport is an electronics design studio specializing in visually distinctive soldering kits and circuit board art projects for hobbyists and enthusiasts with electronics experience. The product portfolio centers on approximately 35 distinct projects including soldering kits (The Lady, LIGEMDIO, Stringy, Juice, PissOff, IxpandO, Cordwood Puzzle series, Widlar, Ananas, BINCO, The Monarch, The Matrix), circuit board art pieces (Engineer Superhero Plaque, Dreamer), apparel (Join the Resistors T-Shirt), and standalone circuit boards. Boldport develops and uses its own proprietary open source circuit board design software called PCBmodE, and operates the Boldport Club community program with Discord-based membership. Projects are distributed through Pimoroni and Whadda, and feature open source design files hosted on GitHub.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Lady soldering kit Ladybird-shaped soldering and display project using 10mm and 5mm LEDs on a custom PCB, powered by a CR2032 battery and Bourns switch; designed for electronics hobbyists.
• Engineer Superhero Plaque Decorative circuit board art plaque (101x101mm) displaying electrical symbols on multiple layer stacks with ENIG finish in a laser-cut Perspex frame; intended for offices, workshops and gifting.
• Tiny 'Engineer Superhero' Emergency Kit Compact surface-mount electronics kit (resistors, capacitor, 2N7000 MOSFET, yellow LED) with V=IR reference printed on the board; aimed at hobbyists seeking a portable intro to electronics.
• Join the Resistors T-Shirt Unisex black t-shirt (Continental EP100) featuring a resistor-themed white silkscreen print on front and back; marketed at electronics enthusiasts and as branded apparel.
• Only the Circuitboard (bare PCBs) Bare Boldport project printed circuit boards sold without components or packaging; available across multiple project variants for hobbyists who source their own parts.
• QSOP and 0805 Breakout and Soldering Practice Board Surface-mount soldering practice board featuring a QSOP-28 pad, 32 0805 pads, 2.54mm pitch headers and configurable input sections; intended for hobbyists practicing SMD soldering.
• LIGEMDIO LED Tester Kit LED tester soldering kit built around two NPN bipolar transistors and two resistors providing a constant-current driver for through-hole and surface-mount LEDs; sold to electronics hobbyists.
• Stringy Guitar Synthesizer Kit Guitar synthesizer kit implementing the Karplus-Strong string-plucking algorithm on a PIC microcontroller, playable over five octaves in acoustic or electric guitar styles; built in collaboration with MadLab's James Hutchby.
• Juice Battery Replacement Kit Bench-supply-style battery replacement kit offering six configurable outputs (AA, AAA, CR2032, A23) with fixed or adjustable voltage, packaged in a cardboard enclosure.
• Dreamer Circuit Board Art Limited-edition (580 copies) decorative PCB art piece featuring doodled visual elements, designed from hand-drawn sketches converted via PCBmodE and manufactured by Eurocircuits.
• PissOff Proximity Sensor Kit Proximity sensor kit that detects approaching objects via infrared and plays audio from a microSD card; based on LuckyResistor's original design and using an ARM Cortex-M0+ MCU.
• Pease-out (LM331 tribute kit) Bob Pease tribute kit built around the LM331 voltage-to-frequency converter, producing an adjustable 3Hz–300Hz output observed via a flashing LED.
• IxpandO I2C I/O Expansion Kit 16-bit I2C input/output expansion board based on the Microchip MCP23017, allowing connection of up to 16 inputs or outputs through I2C with a compatible Arduino driver.
• Cordwood Puzzle 1 Kit Modern tribute kit to 1950s–1960s cordwood construction using two PCBs sandwiching through-hole components, forming a puzzle-style assembly where all LEDs light up when powered.
• Whiteboard Breadboard Power Utility Kit Breadboard power utility kit comprising a 3V coin-cell module, adjustable linear variable power supply, SMD adaptor and coverlet with prototyping areas, supplied in a canvas bag.
• Widlar Voltage Regulator Tribute Kit Bob Widlar tribute kit featuring the Fairchild µA723 voltage regulator IC, used to demonstrate fundamental analogue voltage-regulator design.
• Ananas 3D Pineapple Kit Three-dimensional pineapple-shaped construction using two PCBs with discrete NPN transistor and capacitor LED flashers in each quadrant; aimed at hobbyists interested in 3D PCB construction.
• BINCO Binary Counter Kit 11-bit binary counter kit with configurable count up/down, tactile dome buttons for slow/fast counting and reset, powered by a CR2032 battery.
• The Monarch Electronic Butterfly Kit Electronic butterfly kit using a clock source and shift-register configuration to generate LED patterns triggered by touching the antennae; third kit in Boldport's electronic bugs series.
• The Matrix Bendable LED Display Kit Bendable 24x5 LED matrix display on a 0.2mm-thick PCB, controlled via I2C using an AMS AS1130 LED driver, with multiple boards chainable to form larger displays.
• PCBmodE PCB Design Software Open-source (MIT-licensed) circuit board design software developed in-house by Boldport, enabling visually distinctive PCB layouts not achievable with standard EDA tools; available on GitHub.
• Boldport Club Community Membership Lifetime community membership for electronics enthusiasts, gained by a minimum-£30 purchase from the Boldport shop; main benefit is access to the Boldport Discord server for project support, build-sharing and community engagement.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EurocircuitscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurocircuits manufactured the Dreamer circuit board art piece (2.4mm FR4, 35μm copper foil, two-pass soldermask with gold finish) and subsidized PCB costs for The Matrix project. They are a key manufacturing partner enabling Boldport's high-quality custom PCB designs.
• AMS (ams.com)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAMS donated LED drivers (AS1130) for The Matrix project, making the bendable LED matrix display possible.
• LuckyResistorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with LuckyResistor on the PissOff project. LuckyResistor authored the optimized MCU code for the cat-deterring proximity sensor. Boldport brought the project to Club members.
• MadLab (James Hutchby)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative project with James Hutchby from MadLab on the Stringy guitar synthesizer project. Boldport re-implemented his original Karplus-Strong synthesis project.
• MicrochipminorOthersMicrochip provided excellent prices for PIC microcontrollers used in Stringy project.
• SnaptronminorOthersSnaptron made a kind donation of metal domes used in the BINCO binary counter project.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Evil Mad Science: Small-batch maker of distinctive electronics kits and open-source hardware products with an aesthetic and craft orientation, closely paralleling Boldport's design-led positioning at similar scale.
• Dangerous Prototypes: Open-source hardware project site offering electronics kits and dev boards aimed at advanced hobbyists, sharing Boldport's open-source + community-led approach within the same niche.
• Thimble (by Mimosa): Subscription-based educational electronics kit company targeting makers; comparable to Boldport's lifetime-membership community model for kits delivered to electronics enthusiasts.

Direct peers

• Adafruit: Open-source hardware company selling electronics kits, soldering projects, and PCBs through a large e-commerce site and education channels. Directly comparable to Boldport's hobbyist-maker kit-plus-PCB model but at significantly larger scale.
• SparkFun Electronics: Sells electronics prototyping kits, breakout boards, and educational hardware through its own storefront; overlaps directly with Boldport's soldering project and bare PCB categories for the maker segment.
• Pimoroni: UK-based maker electronics retailer and Boldport distribution partner; sells its own soldering kits and PCBs (e.g., Pico/RP2040 ecosystem) to the same intermediate-to-expert hobbyist customer base Boldport targets.
• Seeed Studio: Open-source hardware vendor producing maker kits, PCB-based products, and PCB fabrication services, comparable to Boldport's combination of kit retail plus community-driven design.
• Kitronik: UK-based educational electronics project kits and accessories company serving hobbyists and schools; targets an overlapping maker/education segment with solder-it-yourself kits, similar to Boldport's club offerings.

Broad incumbents

• OSH Park: PCB fabrication service and community for hobbyist/open-source designers; comparable to the PCB-portion of Boldport's value chain with similar community ethos around open hardware.

Others

• Hackaday: Online media and community for hardware hackers and makers; complements Boldport's audience rather than competing directly, but functions as a top-of-funnel channel where its core projects gain visibility.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/boldport
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boldport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boldport