What MICROBOX does

MICROBOX GmbH is a privately held, family-owned German company founded in 1958 in Bad Nauheim that designs, manufactures, and sells digitization hardware and software for cultural heritage institutions under the book2net brand. Its core products are a family of specialized book, archive, and large-format scanners (Cobra, Dragon, Flash, Hornet, Profi, Spirit, Public) built around proprietary in-house camera technology, plus the X71 multispectral imaging system that captures infrared and UV light to reveal details invisible to the naked eye. The portfolio spans 40+ products and is backed by 5,800+ installed systems globally across museums, archives, libraries, universities, and government agencies. Revenue is generated through direct enterprise sales of hardware systems combined with professional services covering project consultation, on-site installation, and staff training, priced via custom quote-based multi-year contracts. Go-to-market is consultative and tender-driven, with marquee wins including The National Archives (UK), the National Library of Uzbekistan (delivered via an LG Electronics channel partnership), Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz, and THULB Jena, and the company is led by legal representatives Stephan Welp and Tim Welp.

Name

MICROBOX

Legal name

MICROBOX GmbH

Website

https://microbox.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

MICROBOX GmbH is a family-owned German firm founded in 1958 that designs and manufactures book2net book scanners, large-format scanners, and the X71 multispectral imaging system for museums, archives, libraries, and government cultural-heritage digitization programs worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Nauheim

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales - Scanners & Cameras: Sale of digitization equipment including book scanners (Cobra, Dragon, Flash, Profi, Spirit), large-format scanners (Hornet A0, Flash A1), cameras (X71), and multispectral imaging systems
2. Installation and Training Services: On-site installation of book2net systems with training for staff to operate equipment independently
3. Project Consultation: Consultation for digitization project management, designing perfect hardware and software solutions for customer projects, objectives and wishes

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MICROBOX GmbH manufactures and sells book2net book and document scanners, large-format archive scanners, and the proprietary X71 multispectral imaging camera for cultural heritage digitization. The company supplies hardware, project consultation, on-site installation, and staff training to museums, archives, libraries, and government institutions worldwide.

Product overview

MICROBOX GmbH is a German provider of digitization solutions for cultural heritage institutions, offering the book2net scanning product line as its primary brand. The portfolio centers on specialized book and document scanners (Cobra A2, Dragon, Profi A2, Spirit A3, Public A2, Hornet A0, Flash A1) alongside the X71 multispectral imaging system for advanced analysis. All book2net scanners use proprietary in-house camera technology, with solutions ranging from self-service public-use models to high-end V-shape cradles for fragile manuscripts. The company also offers OCR software for text digitization and provides digitization project management and training services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• book2net: The primary product brand for MICROBOX GmbH's scanning systems, including various scanner models like Cobra, Dragon, Flash, Hornet, and multispectral imaging systems.

Products and services

• book2net Cobra A2 V-Shape Scanner A high-resolution V-shape scanner with a gentle book cradle and conservational lighting system, specifically developed for digitizing precious illuminated manuscripts and incunabula such as the Gutenberg Bible.
• book2net Dragon Scanner A V-shape scanner designed for high-volume newspaper and periodical digitization, featuring object-friendly operation, automatic left/right page separation, and high-speed scanning used for projects such as digitizing 750,000 newspaper pages per year.
• book2net X71 Multispectral Imaging System A multispectral imaging camera system using infrared and UV light to reveal details invisible to the naked eye, including underdrawings, watermarks, pigments, and faded ink, with automatic focus and filter recognition for archives, museums, and restoration workshops.
• book2net Hornet A0 Large-Format Scanner An A0 large-format archive and book scanner for digitizing oversized materials such as maps, posters, and large documents in archives and libraries.
• book2net Flash A1 Scanner An A1 large-format scanner designed for high-quality digitization of oversized archival materials and books, with reported 75% productivity improvements over prior large-volume scanners.
• book2net Profi A2 Kiosk Scanner A kiosk-style A2 book scanner designed for public use in libraries and archives, featuring user-friendly operation.
• book2net Spirit A3 Self-Service Scanner A self-service A3 book scanner designed for public use in libraries and archives.
• book2net Public A2 Self-Service Scanner A self-service A2 book scanner designed for public use in libraries.
• Digitization Project Consultation, Installation and Training Services Consultative services including project design, on-site installation of book2net systems, and staff training to enable cultural heritage institutions to operate digitization equipment independently.

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% increase in scan productivity with Flash A1 scanner
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• LG Electronics (for Uzbekistan Government Projects)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2018LG Electronics carried out tenders for major digitization projects on behalf of the Uzbek government. This channel partnership enabled MICROBOX to win significant contracts for the National Library of Uzbekistan digitization, with over 60 book scanners delivered in 2018-2019 as part of Uzbekistan's comprehensive digitization strategy under President Mirziyoyev.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Avision: Taiwanese manufacturer of document and book scanners with global distribution. Offers cost-competitive scanning alternatives to MICROBOX's higher-end book2net systems, particularly in emerging markets.

Direct peers

• IBML: Manufacturer of high-volume document scanners used by records management, government, and archive operations. Less specialized than MICROBOX in cultural heritage but competes in the broader institutional scanning market.
• ATIZ Innovation: Book and document scanner manufacturer offering V-shaped cradles for libraries and archives. Overlaps with book2net's Cobra and Dragon product lines in serving cultural heritage digitization projects.
• Qidenus Technologies: Austrian manufacturer of Qidenus Robin, an automated robotic book scanner for high-quality digitization. Directly competes with MICROBOX's premium V-shape scanners in the museum and rare book digitization segment.
• Zeutschel: German manufacturer of high-end book and document scanners (e.g., Omniscan, OS Plus) widely used by archives, libraries, and museums worldwide. Zeutschel is the most direct competitor to MICROBOX's book2net line in cultural heritage digitization equipment.
• i2S: French manufacturer of professional book and document scanners (Digibook range) and image capture solutions for archives, libraries, and cultural heritage institutions. Directly competes with MICROBOX in the European heritage scanning market.
• Treventus Mechatronics: Austrian developer of the ScanRobot, an automated V-shaped book scanner with robotic page turning. Competes with MICROBOX's Cobra V-shape scanners for fragile manuscript digitization in libraries and archives.
• Image Access: German manufacturer of wide-format and book scanners (Bookeye, WideTEK) for archives, libraries, and offices. Image Access competes head-to-head with book2net across A1/A0 formats and is a direct peer in the cultural heritage digitization niche.

Broad incumbents

• Epson: Global imaging and scanning incumbent with document scanner lines (WorkForce, DS series) used in offices and some institutional settings. Competes with book2net at the lower end but lacks the specialized heritage scanning focus.
• Canon: Global imaging incumbent offering document scanners (imageFORMULA series), cameras, and reprographic equipment used in offices, libraries, and archives. Overlaps with MICROBOX in document capture but not specialized in cultural heritage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/book2net

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 MICROBOX