Next State Systems

What Next State Systems does

Next State Systems is a privately held, ITAR-registered custom embedded systems engineering firm headquartered in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 2016, the company operates with a small team of 1–10 employees led by CEO Brian Henderson, CTO Jacob Thordahl, and Senior Developer Stephen Miles. It serves enterprise clients across three primary verticals — semiconductor and electronics, industrial and agricultural technology, and scientific imaging equipment — delivering design services spanning FPGA/SoC and microcontroller-based real-time control systems, ASIC prototyping and validation, firmware and software development, low-power electronics, MEMS sensor integration, and custom electronic test systems. The technology stack spans Xilinx FPGA/SoC, STM32, ARM, PIC32, and MSP430 architectures, with development in Xilinx Vivado/Vitis, MATLAB/Simulink (model-based design), STM32Cube IDE, MPLAB, GCC/GDB, and NI LabVIEW/LabVIEW FPGA.

Next State Systems generates revenue through project-based, custom-scoped engineering service engagements, supplemented by limited hardware product sales. The service engagements are quote-based and structured as multi-year contracts covering concept through prototype. Its two disclosed physical products are a LoRaWAN wireless sensor system for precision agriculture — manufactured in production volumes of thousands of units with multi-year battery life, 10 km wireless range, and an AWS serverless analytics backend — and a custom high-speed camera system featuring an FPGA-controlled 32-channel analog front-end and GigE Vision interface. Go-to-market is direct enterprise sales, supported by a project portfolio on the company website rather than paid marketing or channel partners. Distribution is regional, focused on the US market, with ITAR clearance qualifying the firm for export-controlled defense and aerospace work that is gated to credentialed competitors.

Name

Next State Systems

Legal name

Next State Systems

Website

https://nss-eng.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Next State Systems is a small, ITAR-registered custom embedded systems engineering firm in Albuquerque, NM, providing FPGA/ASIC prototyping, firmware development, low-power electronics, and test systems to semiconductor, agricultural IoT, and scientific imaging clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Embedded Systems Engineering Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing (334290)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Control System Integration & Engineering Services (Design, Commissioning, Retrofits) (IMAGABAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real-Time & Industrial Control Processors (RT MCUs/PLC-class SoCs) (HDAHAJAL), Audio, Imaging & Multimedia SoCs (ISP/Codec/Display) (HDAHABAH)

Keywords

• Embedded systems engineering
• FPGA design services
• Firmware development
• ASIC prototyping
• Low power electronics

Headquarters

HQ city

Albuquerque

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Engineering Services: Project-based engineering engagements for custom embedded systems development, including ASIC prototyping, firmware development, and electronic test systems. Services are tailored to client specifications from concept through prototype.
2. Custom Hardware Design: Design and manufacturing of custom electronic hardware including test systems, sensor platforms, and specialized electronic components. Production volumes range from prototypes to thousands of units.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Next State Systems is a custom embedded systems engineering firm that designs and develops electronic hardware, firmware, and software for enterprise clients. Core service offerings span FPGA/SoC and microcontroller-based real-time control systems, ASIC prototyping and validation, MEMS sensor integration, low-power electronics design, automated electronic test systems, and custom high-speed imaging and LoRaWAN wireless sensor products. Engagements cover the complete development cycle from concept through prototype to low-volume production (production runs in the thousands of units have been delivered).

Product overview

Next State Systems offers comprehensive embedded systems engineering services as a unified portfolio. The company provides custom hardware design services including Electronic Test Systems, Low Power Electronics Design, and Real-Time FPGA/Microcontroller Control Systems. Their firmware and software development services support multiple processor architectures (Xilinx FPGA/SoC, STM32, ARM, PIC32, MSP430) using tools like Xilinx Vivado, MATLAB/Simulink, and LabVIEW. Their product offerings include Custom High Speed Camera Systems for industrial imaging with FPGA-controlled analog front-ends and GigE Vision interfaces, and LoRaWAN Sensor Systems for precision agriculture with multi-year battery life and AWS-based cloud analytics. ASIC Prototyping, MEMS Sensor Support, and Custom ASIC Test Systems round out their engineering service offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electronic Test Systems
• Low Power Electronics Design
• Real-Time FPGA and Microcontroller-based Control Systems
• Firmware and Software Development
• ASIC Prototyping
• MEMS Sensor Integration Support
• Custom ASIC Test Systems
• Custom High Speed Camera Systems
• LoRaWAN Sensor System for Precision Agriculture

Quantifiable outcome

• Multi-year battery life through advanced power optimization
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cambridge Consultants: Cambridge Consultants is a much larger product development and engineering consultancy with deep FPGA, embedded, and signal-processing capability across medical, industrial, and defense. Comparable technical offerings but operates at significantly greater scale and geographic breadth.
• Mercury Systems: Mercury Systems is a major defense-focused embedded computing and sensor processing company. Overlaps with Next State Systems in FPGA-based signal processing and defense customer base, but at vastly greater scale with proprietary product lines.
• SEAKR Engineering: SEAKR Engineering (a Raytheon subsidiary) designs and manufactures advanced FPGA-based embedded processing for space and defense applications. A scaled incumbent doing closely related ASIC/FPGA and embedded work in adjacent defense verticals.

Direct peers

• Mistral Solutions: Mistral Solutions is an embedded product design and engineering services company offering FPGA design, board design, firmware, and system integration across defense, aerospace, and industrial customers. Highly comparable service portfolio and target verticals to Next State Systems.
• DornerWorks: DornerWorks is a custom embedded systems design services firm specializing in FPGA, firmware, and hardware design for defense and medical clients. Closest direct peer to Next State Systems in size, scope (FPGA/SoC, firmware, low-power), and ITAR-eligible customer mix.
• Mosaic Embedded: Mosaic Embedded provides embedded firmware, RTOS, and hardware engineering services for industrial and defense clients. Comparable boutique scale and focus on real-time/firmware work that overlaps Next State Systems' core capability.
• Logic Design Solutions: Logic Design Solutions is a small FPGA and embedded design services firm offering ASIC/FPGA design, verification, and embedded firmware. Direct competitor for the ASIC prototyping and FPGA-based control-system work Next State Systems performs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 Next State Systems