ihr GmbH

What ihr GmbH does

ihr GmbH (legal entity: Ingenieurgesellschaft Holzberg und Riehemann mbH) is a privately held German automotive technology specialist founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rheinmünster, Germany. The company focuses on vehicle bus communication across the LIN, CAN, CAN-FD, and Automotive Ethernet protocols, supplying three integrated product lines: conformance-tested LIN/CAN/Ethernet drivers for eight major silicon vendor families, proprietary secure flash bootloaders (including OTA-capable variants with car-maker-custom crypto), and a tooling portfolio (Emulin, LIN I/O, LINlog, CANStick, LIN Stand Alone Flash Programmer, SAD 641) that spans design, validation, end-of-line production, and in-vehicle diagnostics. Their LDC (LIN Driver Configuration) tool generates LIN-compliant C code for embedded projects and supports LIN 1.3 through 2.2 and SAE J2602.

The firm operates a DAkkS-accredited conformance test house in Germany under DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 (held since 2010), supplemented by wholly-owned regional test labs in Detroit/Howell (USA) and Shanghai (China), giving it global coverage for ISO-, SAE-, GMW-, and OEM-specific LIN, CAN/CAN-FD, TC8 Automotive Ethernet, and PSI5 testing. The facility is ASPICE-certified, and the engineering team is described as having 30+ years of automotive experience, with active participation in TC8, ISO, and PSI5 standards working groups. Customers include automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers (the firm's trusted status with most car makers in Europe and North America is explicitly cited) and major silicon vendors (Elmos, Infineon, Microchip, Micronas, NXP, Renesas, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments).

Revenue is generated through three channels: one-time licensing of drivers and flash bootloaders, professional services for conformance testing (typical lead times of 3 weeks for LIN and 5 weeks for CAN), and hardware sales of development and diagnostic tools. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Distribution is direct enterprise sales through the three regional offices, supplemented by website-based quote-request workflows. Ownership is family-controlled, with CEO Sven Holzberg and CFO Claudia Holzberg as the named executive leadership; the company has no disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, M&A, or app-store presence.

Name

ihr GmbH

Legal name

Ingenieurgesellschaft Holzberg und Riehemann mbH

Website

https://ihr.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ihr GmbH is a German privately held automotive technology specialist that supplies LIN, CAN, CAN-FD, and Automotive Ethernet conformance testing, drivers, secure flash bootloaders, and diagnostic tools to OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and major silicon vendors across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Automotive Bus Communication Software

NAICS

Motor Vehicle Electrical and Electronic Equipment Manufacturing (33632), Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals (334515), Motor Vehicle Electrical and Electronic Equipment Manufacturing (336320)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825), Motor Vehicle Parts & Accessories (3714)

akta.pro primary industry

Onboard Diagnostics (OBD) Readiness & Drive-Cycle Verification (TLAKANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

ADAS Compute & Control Units Manufacturing (Domain Controllers/ECUs) (IMACAMAG), Automotive & Safety-Certified Processors (ADAS/Domain/ASIL MCUs) (HDAHAJAJ), Vehicle Diagnostics & Fault Code Scanning Services (TLAKANAA)

Keywords

• Automotive bus communication
• Conformance testing services
• Embedded driver software
• Flash bootloader development
• Vehicle network protocols

Headquarters

HQ city

Rheinmünster

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Drivers and Flash Bootloaders: Sale of LIN, CAN, and Ethernet drivers along with secure flash bootloaders for automotive control units. Products are conformance tested prior to delivery. Cost-effective alternative to in-house development as emphasized by customer feedback.
2. Conformance Testing Services: Testing services including LIN, CAN/CAN-FD, and Automotive Ethernet conformance testing. Lead times of 3 weeks (LIN) and 5 weeks (CAN). Additional services include performance tests, stress tests, interoperability tests, endurance tests, and climate chamber tests.
3. Development and Diagnostic Tools: Sale of tools including Emulin, LIN I/O, LINlog, CANStick, LIN Stand Alone Flash Programmer, and SAD 641 Operating Device. Tools support the complete automotive product lifecycle from design to end-of-line production.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ihr GmbH develops and sells embedded driver software, secure flash bootloaders, and development/diagnostic hardware tools for automotive bus communication protocols (LIN, CAN, CAN-FD, Automotive Ethernet), and provides DAkkS-accredited conformance testing services across three global test labs. Products are delivered conformance-tested and ASPICE-certified, targeting automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and major semiconductor vendors.

Product overview

ihr GmbH offers a comprehensive automotive bus communication product portfolio centered on three pillars: LIN/CAN/Ethernet Drivers, Secure Flash Bootloaders, and Development/Testing Tools. The LDC Tool (LIN Driver Configuration) is the core software for generating C Code LIN drivers across 8 major semiconductor vendor families (Elmos, Infineon, Microchip, Micronas, NXP, Renesas, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments). Secure Flash Bootloaders extend these drivers for reprogramming ECUs via UDS services, supporting OTA updates with classic or sophisticated security implementations. The Tools portfolio includes Emulin (LIN emulator/development tool), LIN I/O (production automation adapter), LINlog (bus traffic logger), CANStick (OBD-2 diagnostic tool), LIN Stand Alone Flash Programmer, and SAD 641 Operating Device. All products undergo Conformance Testing prior to delivery, backed by the company's DAkkS-accredited test laboratory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LIN Drivers (multi-vendor) Conformance-tested LIN driver software for microcontrollers from Elmos, Infineon, Microchip, Micronas, NXP, Renesas, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. Generated via the LDC tool with support for LIN 1.3, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, and SAE J2602 standards, optional UDS integration, and MPLAB IDE plug-in for Microchip parts.
• Secure Flash Bootloaders Proprietary secure flash bootloaders for LIN, CAN, and Automotive Ethernet bus systems, using UDS services for the flashing process. Supports options from classic security implementation to sophisticated OTA (over-the-air) programming with third-party crypto libraries or custom security algorithms from car makers. Available for Microchip, Elmos, Melexis, Renesas, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and Texas Instruments MCU families.
• LDC Tool (LIN Driver Configuration) Software tool for generating LIN-compliant C code drivers for embedded automotive projects. Supports LIN 1.3, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, and SAE J2602 standards with intuitive configuration of master/slave nodes, diagnostic services, and node configuration.
• Conformance Testing Services Accredited conformance testing services for LIN, CAN/CAN-FD, and Automotive Ethernet (TC8) products, plus performance, stress, interoperability, endurance, and climate chamber tests. Supports LIN 1.3, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2/2.2A, ISO 17987, SAE J2602-2, ISO 16845, GMW 14241, GMW 3110, GMW 17106, and 100BASE-T1/1000BASE-T1. Typical lead times of 3 weeks for LIN and 5 weeks for CAN.
• Emulin Development Tool Hardware development tool for design and realization of LIN control devices. Supports stand-alone and control panel modes, emulation and analysis of LIN nodes/subsystems, restbus simulation, mobile in-vehicle use, configurable operating panel with 8 keys and 12 LEDs, 2 analog/digital I/O ports, 1 Mbaud CAN interface, and detailed LIN bus error recognition. Includes the Visulin PC program for recording and configuration.
• LIN I/O Communication Adapter Hardware adapter that bridges production automation and LIN test objects, featuring emulation/analysis of LIN nodes/subsystems, wakeup/sleep support, LIN bus error recognition, galvanically isolated digital I/O, 4 analog inputs, 2 analog outputs, and 1 current measurement channel.
• LINlog Bus Traffic Logger Hardware device that captures LIN traffic on the bus for later analysis. Records up to 128MB (over 6 million messages), supports wakeup/sleep monitoring, includes a second CAN interface for vehicle bus and gateway emulation, and offers optional LIN/CAN emulator mode after de-energizing code input.
• CANStick Diagnostic Tool Handy diagnostic tool for automotive CAN applications, attachable to the OBD-2 connector. Features 4 free programmable keys and 6 free programmable LEDs, powered by the OBD-2 connector. Available in Light, Basic, and Pro variants with different housing configurations and connector options. Designed for serial manufacturing environments with up to 2,000,000 connection cycles.
• LIN Stand Alone Flash Programmer Standalone hardware device for flashing firmware based on LIN and UDS Layer protocols. Includes rest bus simulation, flashing of Hex files via UDS Services, SD card operation, 1 programming key, 3 LEDs, and standalone automatic function operation for end-of-line production.
• Operating Device SAD 641 Hardware device for operating sun roofs and shades MD1, MR1, MD2, MR2 according to specification SAD641 V1.7. Supports multiple sun roof variants (AU316, AU571, AU572, AU573, AU641, AU641-LWB, VW526, PO726, AU210, AU37X) with 9 keys, 19 LEDs, and stand-alone mode.

Quantifiable outcome

• Typical LIN testing lead time of 3 weeks or less
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• H&HcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerH&H along with ihr GmbH is one of a few specialists in Flash Bootloaders (FBLs), including latest secure FBL options. They collaborate on providing proprietary FBLs for LIN, CAN and Ethernet bus systems.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Keysight Technologies: Major test and measurement company with automotive Ethernet and bus protocol solutions, often via OEM partnerships. Operates at greater scale than ihr GmbH across the broader T&M market and adjacent automotive electronics validation workflows.
• Rohde & Schwarz: Large test and measurement equipment manufacturer whose automotive T&M portfolio includes oscilloscopes and compliance testers for bus protocols. A broader incumbent that competes in some of ihr's testing tool segments but with a much wider instrumentation portfolio.

Direct peers

• Elektrobit (EB): Automotive embedded software vendor offering AUTOSAR stacks, operating systems, and security/firmware solutions. Adjacent overlap with ihr GmbH's driver and flash bootloader offerings, particularly as EB expands into UDS and OTA services.
• H&H Software / H&H Group: Specialist in flash bootloaders and ECU reprogramming solutions explicitly named as ihr GmbH's collaboration partner. Direct overlap in secure flash bootloaders for LIN/CAN/Ethernet automotive networks.
• ETAS (Robert Bosch): Bosch subsidiary providing automotive development tools, middleware, and security/testing solutions for ECUs. Competes with ihr GmbH in LIN/CAN driver stacks, calibration tools, and security testing for automotive networks.
• dSPACE: German provider of automotive development and validation tools, including HIL simulation and bus/network testing. Overlaps with ihr GmbH in automotive ECU communication testing and serves many of the same OEM and Tier 1 customers.
• Vector Informatik: German-headquartered developer of automotive networking tools (CANoe, CANalyzer), embedded software components, and testing services. Most direct competitor to ihr GmbH in LIN/CAN/Ethernet conformance testing, with broader embedded software and AUTOSAR offerings.
• Spirent Communications: Provider of automotive Ethernet conformance and performance test systems (C50, TTsuite), directly competing with ihr GmbH in TC8 testing for 100/1000BASE-T1 networks serving global OEMs.

Emerging players

• PLS Programmierbare Logik & Systeme: German provider of debuggers, trace tools, and automotive testing/validation tools (UDE) for embedded microcontrollers. Partial overlap with ihr GmbH in serving the same automotive MCU developer base.

Regional players

• Tessolve (Hero Electronix): India-headquartered semiconductor and automotive testing services company expanding into automotive conformance and validation. Comparable in service-line breadth (testing, embedded) but primarily serves the Indian/Asia market rather than ihr's core Europe/North America base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ihr-automotive

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries2 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 ihr GmbH