Consulting engineers since 2014 · Cape Town
BMEC is a bespoke engineering consultancy. From a quick design review to a full product development programme spanning mechanical, electronic, software and regulatory - one multidisciplinary team, no hand-offs.
Trusted by founders, MDs and technical teams across four continents
What we do
Clients come to us when they have a technical challenge they can't solve alone - a stalled vendor, an unmanufacturable prototype, a device that needs certification, or simply something that needs to be built well. We think clearly about it, give honest advice, and deliver.
We don't require the problem to be complex. We do require it to be real. When the job needs one discipline, that's all you pay for. When it needs all of them, nothing falls between the cracks.
Capabilities
Mechanical, electronic, firmware, software and medical - under one roof, from the first sketch to a product running in the field a decade later.
Fractional C-suite techno-commercial support
Senior technical leadership without a full-time hire - directorship, due diligence, risk management, IP and innovation strategy, and investment sourcing.
Mobile, web, cloud and embedded
Full-stack engineering across application, embedded and cloud - from a phone in a farmer's hand to firmware on a medical device to the cloud behind it.
Mechanical, electronic and industrial design
CAD modelling, simulation and tolerance analysis through PCB development and manufacturing packs - design that survives the real world and the production line.
IoT, mechatronics and industrial control
Sensing, actuation and control that runs unattended in the field - from smart agricultural machinery to the automation of a historic public mechanism.
R&D, production, simulation and compliance
Devices from concept to clinical deployment across haematology, neurology, ophthalmology and vascular surgery - with the regulatory and IP pathway built in.
CE · FDA · UKCA · ISO 13485 · SAHPRA
Most real problems cross disciplines. Tell us what you're trying to build and we'll tell you, honestly, what it takes.
Explore capabilitiesSelected work
Water treatment, agritech, medical devices, IoT and assistive technology - concept to clinical, prototype to production.
Brought in to rescue a failing vendor, then contracted to design ArcAqua's flagship industrial ozone sanitation system from scratch. CE certified first time, hundreds of units deployed, still the backbone of the business a decade on.
Nine years, five product generations, still active. What began as a simple GPS speed-control problem grew into a full precision-agriculture platform - electronics, firmware, mobile, web and cloud - that BMEC still designs and maintains.
A beer-tap monitoring startup came to us for a modest hardware revision. We challenged the brief, re-architected the product, eliminated its biggest cost, and cut unit cost by roughly 10x.
A permanent implant for the treatment of glaucoma - taken from concept through prototyping, IP protection and pre-clinical and clinical device production. Currently in human-stage trials.
Proof, not promises
One client relationship has spanned 26 statements of work over more than a decade. Another has been in continuous production with us since 2017. Software and physical products we designed are still running in the field, unchanged in their fundamentals, ten years on. PCT patents filed; clients' full IP stack always their own.
Client milestones
We are proud to be the engineering team behind products that raise capital, clear regulators and reach the world. A few recent milestones from the companies we work with.
Raised R28m from the SAB Foundation and ~$1.75m to advance its glaucoma drainage implants - the device family BMEC engineers.
Read more ↗ Strait Access TechnologiesUS clearance (K243184, June 2025) and a first-in-human milestone following TEVAR - South African cardiovascular innovation reaching the United States.
Read more ↗ MaltentoSecured $3.3m from Sand River Venture Capital and opened a world-class black soldier fly bio-technology laboratory in Cape Town.
Read more ↗ ArcAquaBacked by Remgro's venture arm Invenfin, ArcAqua's chlorine-free food-safety system - built on BMEC engineering - is drawing international demand.
Read more ↗ DISA MedinotecMedinotec began trading on the OTCQX (MDNC), opening a path for US manufacturing and distribution of its niche medical devices.
Read more ↗ WyrmwoodThe Modular Gaming Table raised roughly $8.8m from thousands of backers - hardware that has to be as precise as it is beautiful.
Read more ↗How we work
Every engagement is a fixed-scope step on the same six-phase path. You can join at any phase - and stop at the end of any one.
Techno-commercial due diligence, technology readiness assessment, platform and tooling evaluation, IP strategy and regulatory planning - through to a clear requirement specification.
In practice: Draught Guardian →The high-level technology decisions: software architecture, hardware component selection and automation system specification - the choices that are expensive to get wrong later.
In practice: SmartSpreader →The deliverables themselves - code, schematics, PCB layouts, CAD models, manufacturing packs, BOMs and production documentation.
In practice: Simba Pediatric Bed →Production from low to high volume, sourcing and procurement, assembly and full-stack systems integration.
In practice: HSBP →Verification and validation - bench, lab and field - plus regulatory approval and trial support, including cadaveric, animal and human studies.
In practice: QMAX →Rollout, technical training, production management, issue resolution, obsolescence management and long-term lifecycle oversight.
In practice: ArcStation →In-house
Prototyping, machining, board assembly and clean-bench work happen under our own roof - so problems surface early, iterations are fast, and quality stays in our hands.
In the workshop
Modelled and simulated before it is built, then etched, machined, populated and assembled - much of it in-house. That is how complex systems pass certification the first time.
Live footage: our own mark, laser-etched into stainless steel.
Latest
Raphael posts regularly on LinkedIn - engineering notes, project milestones and the occasional honest opinion. Behind the scenes lives on Instagram.
Start a conversation
Honest advice on what it actually takes - and we'll tell you if it won't work. The founders take the first call themselves.
