Cats Power Design

What Cats Power Design does

Cats Power Design is a privately held French B2B company, founded in 1996 (originally as MDP Electronics) and headquartered in Annecy, that designs and manufactures custom electronic systems for industrial clients across the railway, medical, building-automation/energy, and agriculture 4.0 sectors. Since joining the international Eight Lakes Group in April 2015 and rebranding in September 2015, the company has operated as a focused business unit within a €55M-revenue, ~150-employee electronics and mechatronics conglomerate with sister entities in Benelux and Asia. Its core technical expertise spans five pillars: energy conversion (AC/DC, DC/DC, inverters — its most established competency), battery management (including BMS and the Dolphin Charger marine/VDL sub-brand), motor control and mechatronic actuators, digital electronics with embedded connectivity, and fully integrated mechatronic subsystems including ATEX-certified solutions for explosive environments.

The company's offering is structured as a single interlocutor across the full product lifecycle — study and development, in-house EMC pre-compliance testing (anechoic chamber, 9 kHz–7 GHz capability), industrialization, multi-geography fabless manufacturing (France, Eastern Europe, Maghreb, Asia, scaling from small series to 100,000+ units/year), and series-life support including obsolescence management for products with 20–25 year lifecycles. Connectivity is enabled through Zephyr RTOS integration supporting BLE 5.3, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, CAN bus, GSM, LoRa, and IoT protocols (MQTT, CoAP, LwM2M). The company maintains ISO 9001:2015 certification (since 2008, four consecutive cycles), is pursuing IRIS (ISO/TS 22163) for railway, holds renewed Crédit d'Impôt Innovation (CII) accreditation for 2024–2028, and earned the Ecovadis Bronze Medal (69/100, 82nd percentile) in 2024.

Commercially, Cats Power Design operates a project-based, quote-driven professional services model supplemented by direct hardware sales through the Dolphin Charger sub-brand to marine OEMs including Groupe Bénéteau. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; quotes are project-specific, valid for 30 days, with first-order advance payment and 30-day net terms thereafter. Distribution is exclusively direct enterprise sales — there is no self-serve or consumer channel. The company employs 11–50 people, generating revenue undisclosed at the entity level (consolidated within Eight Lakes Group's €55M). Marketing is primarily content-led (expert blog, gated white papers, monthly newsletter), augmented by trade-show presence (Global Industrie 2026) and French Fab network membership.

Name

Cats Power Design

Legal name

Cats Power Design

Website

https://catspowerdesign.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cats Power Design is a privately held French B2B custom electronics design and manufacturing firm (founded 1996, Annecy), serving railway, medical, industrial, and marine clients across the full product lifecycle — from feasibility study and EMC qualification through fabless production and long-term series support — under the Eight Lakes Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electronic Design & Manufacturing Services

NAICS

Electrical Equipment Manufacturing (33531), Electrical Equipment Manufacturing (3353), Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing (335)

SIC

Electronic & Other Electrical Equipment (No Computer Equip) (3600), Electrical Industrial Apparatus (3620)

akta.pro primary industry

Power Electronics Manufacturing (Inverters/DC-DC/Onboard Chargers) (IMACACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Engineering design services (line design, substation design, civil/structural) (EUADAKAG), Electrical Engineering & Power Distribution (Generation, Switchboards, Cabling, Lighting) (IMAJAGAF), Battery Modules & Packs (Industrial/Commercial pack assembly) (IMAGAHAB)

Keywords

• Custom electronic design
• Power electronics engineering
• Battery management systems
• Electronic manufacturing services
• Embedded systems development

Headquarters

HQ city

Annecy

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Electronic Development & Manufacturing Services: Cats Power Design provides end-to-end custom electronic design and manufacturing services (full custom / sur mesure) based on client specifications. Revenue is generated through project-based contracts covering study & development, industrialization, and production phases. The company serves as a single point of contact throughout the product lifecycle. Fabless model allows production in France, Europe, Eastern Europe, Maghreb, and Asia.
2. Standard Products — Dolphin Charger: Since 1996, the company designs and manufactures standard battery chargers for marine and VDL applications under the Dolphin Charger brand, sold directly to boat manufacturers and marine equipment distributors. Includes Dolphin Connect mobile application for remote management.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cats Power Design is a French electronic design and manufacturing company (Annecy, 11–50 employees, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified) that designs, industrialises and fabricates custom electronic products and systems for demanding OEM markets. Services cover AC/DC and DC/DC power conversion, battery management systems (BMS), motor control, mechatronics and embedded digital electronics, delivered from feasibility study and EMC pre-compliance testing through series production (1 to 100,000+ units), lifecycle support and supply chain management. It also markets the Dolphin Charger brand of marine battery chargers through an international distributor network.

Product overview

Cats Power Design is a B2B electronic design and manufacturing company offering custom (full custom) electronic systems from study and development through to series production and lifecycle support. Its portfolio is organized around five core technical expertise areas — energy conversion, battery management, motor control, digital electronics, and mecatronic systems — delivered as an integrated single point of contact throughout the entire product lifecycle. The company also maintains a standard product line under the Dolphin Charger sub-brand for marine and VDL battery chargers. Services span co-design, in-house EMC/pre-compliance testing laboratory, industrialization, multi-geography manufacturing (France, Eastern Europe, Maghreb, Asia), and series lifecycle support including obsolescence management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dolphin Charger: Marine and VDL battery charger brand under Cats Power Design. Since 1996, Dolphin Charger designs and manufactures high-performance battery chargers, and also offers battery management solutions such as BMS. The brand also develops user interfaces such as boat keyboards and switches for marine applications.

Products and services

• Custom Electronic Design & Manufacturing Services Integrated end-to-end service covering study and development, industrialization, fabrication, EMC pre-compliance testing, series life support (Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle) and supply chain management. Designed for OEM customers in medical, defence/space, railway/mobility, marine, building, industrial and agricultural automation who require custom AC/DC, DC/DC, inverter, BMS, motor-control, mechatronic or embedded digital electronics in volumes from single units to 100,000+.
• Dolphin Charger Marine Battery Chargers Cat's Power Design's own branded line of marine battery chargers sold internationally through a commercial distribution network across approximately 50 countries and 6 continents. Targeted at boat OEMs, integrators and marine aftermarket distributors.
• EMC Pre-Compliance Testing Laboratory In-house EMC pre-compliance test laboratory service used internally to qualify custom designs and available to support customer qualification programs before market launch; covers EMC, norms and qualification testing of electronic sub-systems.
• Industrialization & Fabrication Services Standalone industrialization and contract manufacturing (fabrication) service capable of producing electronics from unit series up to 100,000+ units, supporting customers who need a manufacturing partner without the full custom-design scope.
• Series Lifecycle Support (Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle) After-sales / in-service support service covering the operational maintenance, repair and obsolescence management of electronic products already in series production. Targeted at customers running long-lifecycle programs such as railway, medical and industrial equipment.
• Supply Chain Management Services Component sourcing and supply chain management service, leveraging the company's industrial network to secure and manage electronic component supply for client programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Products designed for 20–25 year operational lifecycles per railway standards
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Eight Lakes GroupcoreOthersCats Power Design is a member of the Eight Lakes Group, an international B2B electronics and mechatronics group. Eight Lakes Group has 55M euros in revenue and approximately 150 employees. The group is present in Benelux (Telerex, Eltrex Motion, Wonderware Benelux), France (CATS distributor), and Asia (MechaTronix). Cats Power Design brought 20 years of expertise in specialized electronics design and manufacturing to the group. Cats Power Design (formerly MDP Electronics) joined Eight Lakes in April 2015.
• Dolphin ChargercoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerDolphin Charger is a brand owned by Cats Power Design, designing and manufacturing high-performance marine and VDL battery chargers since 1996. The brand is featured at dolphin-charger.fr and serves marine OEMs including Groupe Bénéteau. Dolphin Charger also develops user interface solutions (keyboards, switches) for marine applications.
• Groupe BénéteaumajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroupe Bénéteau, world leader in nautical industries, has been supplied by Dolphin Charger with battery chargers and power management electronics for years. The partnership expanded to co-develop ergonomic boat switch interfaces (3T/6T keyboards), with Dolphin Charger receiving the User Interface award at the 2021 Bénéteau Supplier Symposium.
• SopemeaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCats Power Design partnered with Sopemea for a customized advanced training session on EMC debug and pre-qualification in June 2025. Sopemea is a specialized testing and certification organization.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• AllCircuits: European EMS / custom electronics design house with sites in France and Tunisia serving automotive, industrial, energy, and rail markets. Cats Power Design's fabless geographic model (France, Eastern Europe, Maghreb) and vertical mix (rail, medical, industrial) overlap closely with AllCircuits' positioning.
• Mastervolt: Netherlands-based marine and mobile power electronics specialist (battery chargers, inverters, power conversion) under the Power Systems division — directly comparable to the Dolphin Charger brand of Cats Power Design in marine battery charging and DC power systems.
• TT Electronics: UK-headquartered provider of engineered electronics for industrial, medical, aerospace/defense, and rail applications, including custom power conversion, BMS, and motor control solutions. Comparable full-lifecycle custom electronics model and overlapping railway and medical vertical specializations.
• Lacroix Electronics: French electronic manufacturing services provider offering custom design, industrialization, and series production for automotive, industrial, home automation, healthcare, and avionics clients. Operates multi-region fabless production model similar to Cats Power Design and competes directly for mid-sized European OEM programs.
• Eolane: French-headquartered custom electronic design and manufacturing services company serving industrial, medical, railway, defense, and energy markets with full-lifecycle EMS offerings. Cats Power Design is highly comparable in scope (custom electronics design through industrialization) and target verticals (medical, rail, industrial) — directly competing for similar European OEM projects.

Emerging players

• TRACO Power: Swiss manufacturer of AC/DC and DC/DC power conversion products serving industrial, railway, medical, and transportation markets. Comparable to Cats Power Design on power conversion core competence, though more catalog/standard-product oriented versus full custom.
• RECOM Power: Austrian-headquartered power conversion specialist offering AC/DC, DC/DC converters and inverters across industrial, railway, medical, and renewable energy segments. While more catalog-focused, RECOM competes with Cats Power Design for rail/marine power-conversion sockets.

Broad incumbents

• Victron Energy: Leading European manufacturer of marine, mobile, and off-grid power electronics including battery chargers, inverters/chargers, and battery management systems. Victron is a broader incumbent across marine, RV, solar, and industrial markets with overlapping product categories to Dolphin Charger.
• Siemens Mobility: Global broadline supplier of rail electrification, signaling (ERTMS), rolling stock electronics, and power conversion systems. As a much larger incumbent, Siemens Mobility serves the same railway customers (and competing subsystem scope) that Cats Power Design serves as a Tier 2 supplier.

Regional players

• Cisteo Medical: French medical device electronic design and manufacturing specialist serving surgical tools, diagnostic, and connected healthcare markets. Direct overlap with Cats Power Design's medical/healthcare vertical and its custom electronic design + EMC/safety qualification model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cats-power-design

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Cats Power Design