Full-Time
Senior Software Engineer
C++
Quilter AI
11-50 employees
AI-driven PCB layout automation platform
Compensation Overview
$180k - $200k/yr
Remote in USA
Remote
 Software Engineering (1) |
|---|
- 3-10+ years of industry experience maintaining and extending large, high-performance C++ codebases in collaborative environments.
- A strong academic background with deep expertise in computational geometry, graph algorithms, optimization, high-performance computing, meshing, numerical methods, physics simulations, or related fields.
- Proficiency in Python for prototyping and integration with machine learning systems.
- Experience architecting and scaling large, collaborative C++ codebases.
- Strong mathematical and algorithmic intuition, with ability to translate theory into production systems.
- Leadership skills in mentoring, reviewing, and guiding engineering direction.
- A passion for pushing the boundaries of what's possible in automated circuit design.
- Architect and implement high-performance C++ libraries, algorithms, and systems for routing, optimization, and simulation.
- Design scalable data structures and computational methods to handle complex PCB design challenges.
- Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work with domain experts across different disciplines.
- Provide mentorship, technical reviews, and guidance to elevate the team’s engineering practices.
- Advanced degree (Master of Science) or Doctor of Philosophy in computer science, computational physics, robotics, or related fields.
- Experience with reinforcement learning, computer aided design/ electronic design automation tools, or physics-based optimization.
- Exposure to GPU programming (CUDA), parallel/distributed algorithms, or high-performance computing frameworks.
- Contributions to open-source geometry, simulation, or high-performance computing projects.
- Core Router Team: Expertise in graph theory, computational geometry, operations research, optimization, numerical analysis, or simulation.
- Homotopy Team: Background in geometric constraints, optimization methods, or mesh refinement.
- Router Agent Team: Expertise with parallel programming, distributed systems, HPC frameworks, or API design.
- Physics Team: Knowledge of simulations, physics engines, finite element methods, high-performance compute, or distributed compute.
Quilter AI builds software that automates PCB design. It converts circuit schematics into manufacturable PCB layouts using a physics-driven engine and reinforcement learning, rather than relying on large language models. The platform runs high-performance simulations to honor real-world constraints and generates dozens of layout options, enabling engineers to skip manual placement and routing. This approach differs from typical EDA tools by treating PCB layout as a compilation task, optimized through physics-based design and ML, instead of hand-tuned heuristics. Quilter targets electronics companies, startups, and prototyping teams, offering an open beta with free testing and a future usage-based pricing model. Its goal is to shorten the design cycle from weeks to hours, reduce costs, and accelerate hardware iteration and adoption.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Series B
Total Funding
$35M
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
Founded
2021
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- $25M Series B from Index Ventures in October 2025 fuels R&D and enterprise expansion.
- Integrates with Altium, Cadence, Siemens for GovCloud and on-premise aerospace adoption.
- Compresses PCB design from weeks to hours, accelerating hardware iteration velocity.
What critics are saying
- Cadence's Allegro X AI bundles automation, undercutting Quilter's pricing within 12 months.
- Enterprise sales cycles average 18-24 months, risking down-round by Q4 2027.
- Zuken and Siemens lock in 40% of Fortune 500 workflows via embedded AI tools.
What makes Quilter AI unique
- Quilter uses physics-driven reinforcement learning for autonomous PCB layouts, unlike LLM-based tools.
- Sergiy Nesterenko's SpaceX avionics experience informs mission-critical design automation.
- Generates dozens of physics-validated layouts in parallel, enabling 100x more variants.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Your Connections
People at Quilter AI who can refer or advise you
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Paid Parental Leave
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↓ -4%2 year growth
↑ 5%Quilter $25M Series B funding round. Quilter.ai has secured a $25 M Series B round led by Index Ventures, following its Feb 2024 $10 M Series A. The company offers a physics-driven AI platform to automate PCB layout - cutting design cycles from weeks to minutes and targeting aerospace, defense and consumer electronics. Executive summary. * Company Name: Quilter.ai (Legal Name: Allegro Labs, Inc.) * Description: Quilter.ai is developing a physics-driven AI platform to fully automate Printed Circuit Board (PCB) layout, aiming to reduce design cycles from weeks to minutes. * Key Business Metrics: * 31 employees (33% YoY growth) * $10M Series A (Feb 2024) led by Benchmark * Recent $25M Series B (Oct 2025) led by Index Ventures * Primary Value Proposition: To significantly accelerate hardware development and innovation by transforming PCB design into a rapid, autonomous, and physics-validated process. Company overview: * Business Model: Quilter operates on a B2B model, providing its AI-powered software to enterprises in the electronics sector. The platform integrates with existing CAD tools (Altium, Cadence, Siemens), suggesting a SaaS or licensing revenue model. * Target Market: The primary focus is on high-stakes, mission-critical industries including Aerospace & Defense, Semiconductor, and Consumer Electronics, where design speed and reliability are paramount. * Product/Service Portfolio: * The core offering is an AI platform that automates the entire PCB layout process, including component placement, routing, and verification, using a "physics-driven" reinforcement learning approach. * Geographic Presence: Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with web traffic indicating user interest from the US, Germany, and India. Leadership team: * Founder: * Sergiy Nesterenko is the Founder and CEO. * Professional Background: * Sergiy Nesterenko has a strong technical background with degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry from UC Berkeley. * Previous Experience and Track Record: Prior to founding Quilter, Nesterenko was a Senior Radiation Effects Engineer at SpaceX, working on mission-critical systems. This experience in a high-stakes engineering environment is directly relevant to Quilter's target market. Competitive landscape: * Direct Competitors: * Established EDA Giants: Cadence (Allegro X AI), Zuken (CR-8000 AIPR), Siemens. These companies are integrating AI into their established, comprehensive platforms. * Emerging Startups: DeepPCB, Flux.ai, Celus, SnapMagic, AllSpice. These companies offer more focused or alternative approaches to design automation and collaboration. * Competitive Advantages: * Strong technical founder with relevant SpaceX experience. * Backing from top-tier VCs (Benchmark, Index Ventures). * A clear, ambitious vision for full automation that resonates with the market's need for speed. * Intense Competition: The EDA market is dominated by well-resourced incumbents (Cadence, Zuken) who are rapidly developing their own AI capabilities. * Technical Hurdles: Delivering on the promise of "fully autonomous" design for complex, mission-critical hardware is an enormous technical challenge. * Sales Cycle: Enterprise sales cycles in aerospace and defense can be long and complex. * Risk Factors: The primary risk is the ability to execute on their ambitious technical roadmap and compete with the R&D budgets of incumbents. Recent developments & insights: * Latest News and Announcements: The most significant recent news is the announcement of a $25M Series B funding round on October 8, 2025, led by Index Ventures. This provides significant capital for growth and market expansion. * Product Updates and Launches: The company is actively promoting its platform's ability to integrate with existing enterprise workflows (Altium, Cadence, Siemens) and its availability for on-premise and GovCloud deployments. * Strategic Partnerships: While no formal partnerships have been announced, the company is actively engaged with major players in the aerospace, defense, and automotive sectors. Key insights. * Strengths and Opportunities: * Strong Founder-Market Fit: Sergiy Nesterenko's background at SpaceX provides immense credibility. * Significant Market Pull: The electronics industry faces a major bottleneck in PCB design, and there is clear demand for solutions that can accelerate this process. * Top-Tier Investors: Backing from Benchmark and Index Ventures provides strong validation and access to a powerful network.
Today we’re announcing Quilter’s $25M Series B to accelerate electronics design with physics-driven AI.
* Quilter raised $25 million in Series B funding led by Index Ventures to automate PCB design using physics-driven AI, cutting weeks of work down to minutes.
Quilter, backed by Index Ventures, has secured $25M in Series B funding to automate PCB design using physics-driven AI. This technology reduces design time from weeks to minutes, transforming hardware development. Quilter's AI, based on fundamental physics, surpasses human design capabilities. Major aerospace, defense, and electronics companies are adopting Quilter's solution, signaling a shift in the $1 trillion hardware industry. Quilter has raised $40M to date.
quilter inc. has recently launched a white-glove evaluation experience, called the PCB Design Pioneers Program, for engineering leaders who want to benchmark Quilter's capability against existing designs without distracting their team.