Dojo Five
Editor's pick #1Remote-first team of 26 built around a stated culture of humble confidence and a 40-hour work week
Founded 2018 | Saint Paul, MN, USA | 26 employees
firmware-developmentmedical-device-firmwareembedded-linuxbare-metal-programmingfunctional-safety
What is Dojo Five?
Dojo Five was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota with a team of 26 engineers. The company explicitly builds its identity around "modern firmware", the tools, techniques, and culture behind a better day-to-day experience building embedded devices, and operates remote-first with stated values including always learning, humble confidence, and pushing boundaries while protecting a 40-hour work week. For a buyer weighing team culture and engineer retention as part of a long-term hiring decision, that explicit values statement is unusually direct for a firmware company.
Dojo Five works primarily with clients in Medical devices, Diagnostics, Connected devices sectors. Its primary differentiator is: Stated "modern firmware" culture with explicit values (humble confidence, 40-hour weeks) built into how the team operates day to day.
Dojo Five tech stack and services
CC++PythonEmbedded LinuxMedical Device Firmware Standards
| Service area |
|---|
| Firmware Development |
| Medical Device Firmware |
| Embedded Linux |
| Bare-Metal Programming |
| Functional Safety |
Dojo Five pricing
Short answer: Dojo Five uses a project-based firmware engagements pricing approach. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed; a discovery call is required.
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Project-based firmware development | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
Dojo Five does not publish a public rate card. Contact them directly via their website to get project-specific pricing.
Dojo Five pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +Explicit, published team culture (humble confidence, always deliver, 40-hour weeks) gives a hiring buyer real signal about who they'd be working with | -26 engineers caps concurrent capacity for a client needing several parallel workstreams |
| +Remote-first structure from the start, not a pandemic-era retrofit, suggests mature distributed-team practices | -Its stated focus on connected medical devices and diagnostics is a narrower fit outside that vertical |
| +7 years of operating history focused entirely on firmware, with a dedicated Embedded Linux team | -No published pricing or minimum engagement figure |
| +Small team size (26) means a client works with senior engineers directly rather than being routed through account layers |
Dojo Five vs alternatives
How Dojo Five compares to the other top Embedded Firmware Development developers.
| Company | Best for | Key difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemberg Solutions | Teams needing dedicated engineers with direct chip-vendor backing. | 200+ engineers across four countries with direct NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Microchip partner status and an in-house hardware lab | 4.8 | Full comparison |
| Barr Group | Teams wanting engineers whose published technical work they... | Led by Michael Barr, a recognized embedded software author and former magazine editor-in-chief, giving prospective clients a public body of work to evaluate first | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Voler Systems | Teams wanting long-tenured senior engineers over a fast-scaled... | 46 years of continuous operation with a small, senior team rather than a fast-scaled workforce | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Beningo Embedded Group | Teams wanting direct access to one named, verifiable... | Founder-led model with direct prior consulting and training engagements at General Motors, Intel, Infineon, and Renesas | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| RMB Consulting | Teams wanting to work directly with one named,... | 30-plus years of hands-on embedded engineering experience concentrated in a single named principal with a public technical record | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Conclusive Engineering | Teams valuing engineers with named prior experience at... | Team includes engineers with prior experience at Cadence Design Systems and iXsystems, backed by Nordic Semiconductor and Texas Instruments partner status | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| A2e Technologies | Teams needing ITAR-cleared engineers for defense and space... | ITAR-certified team with anti-tamper hardware security specialization, a specific clearance and process discipline most teams don't hold | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| ByteSnap Design | Teams wanting continuity under the same founders and... | 17 years under the same two founders, with a team carrying hands-on experience across ZigBee, LoRa, Wi-Fi, BLE, and GSM | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| DE Design Works | Teams needing engineers experienced with rugged industrial, medical,... | 23 years of continuous firmware and hardware work specifically for rugged industrial, medical, and military applications | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| USA Firmware | Small teams wanting senior, multi-discipline engineers without separate... | 150-plus combined years of leadership experience concentrated in a 17-person team, an unusually high seniority ratio | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| NOVO Engineering | Teams wanting engineers with an unusually high average... | Engineering team averaging 16 years of experience per engineer, a specific and checkable seniority claim | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Droid Technologies | Teams needing engineers whose primary specialty is embedded... | Grew from 4 to 80+ engineers in 9 years with embedded GUI as the team's lead hiring specialty across LVGL, TouchGFX, Qt, and Embedded Wizard | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Ignitec | Teams building wearable products needing engineers who specialize... | Wearable technology as a stated primary specialty, not a general IoT capability applied to a wearable project after the fact | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Oxalis Design | Very small teams wanting direct, ongoing access to... | Founder-led team where both founders remain personally involved in client engineering work, not just management | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Lobaro GmbH | Teams needing deep LoRaWAN and low-power wide-area network... | LoRa Alliance membership and Nordic Semiconductor design partner status with a 15-person team built around LPWAN protocol depth | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| NeuronicWorks | Teams wanting the same engineers to carry a... | In-house manufacturing capability, including box build and PCB assembly, means the firmware team stays involved through physical production | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| EmLogic AS | Teams wanting Zephyr RTOS specialists led by repeat... | Founding team with prior experience each building similar embedded companies, concentrated specifically on Zephyr RTOS | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| ARCH-Embedded | Teams needing engineers with direct prior positioning-technology experience. | Team includes engineers with prior experience at TomTom and in micro-mobility products, a specific and checkable positioning-technology background | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Zone7 Engineering | Teams wanting direct, single-point engineering accountability on a... | Founder personally performs project planning, circuit design, and firmware development, with no layers between quoting and delivery | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Ripcord Designs | Teams wanting senior technical judgment applied directly rather... | Founded by a former Engineering Director who moved from managing engineering to doing it directly, spanning MedTech, IVD, and industrial products | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Blue Sparq | Teams building products with physical control systems and... | Control system design and manufacturing specialization, a narrower and more specific skill set than general embedded firmware alone | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| CMD MedTech | Small teams needing close, senior-level medical device engineering... | Woman-owned small business built specifically around medical device systems, software, and regulatory support | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Promenade Software | Teams wanting a stated faster development methodology within... | Founders set out to apply web-framework development speed to FDA-relevant safety-critical medical device firmware, a stated methodology difference | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Embien Technologies | Teams wanting continuity from concept through manufacturing without... | One-stop lifecycle scope means the same team a client hires stays engaged from ideation through manufacturing handoff | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Klika Tech | Teams needing distributed, multi-timezone staffing from one vendor... | Delivery centers across North America, Europe, and Asia with AWS IoT and STMicroelectronics partner status backing distributed team staffing | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| WebbyLab | Teams needing full-cycle staffing from hardware selection through... | Grew from a small graduate-student founding team to 120+ engineers over 14 years, with Fortune 500 client relationships along the way | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Waferlabs Embedded Technology | Very small engagements wanting engineers with major semiconductor-company... | Founding team with prior experience at Intel, Broadcom, and Qualcomm running a small, direct embedded design practice | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| EES | Teams deliberately avoiding a large delivery organization in... | Explicitly positions itself as senior-led, keeping the team small by design rather than as a growth-stage limitation | 3.8 | Full comparison |
Dojo Five FAQ
What is Dojo Five?
Remote-first team of 26 built around a stated culture of humble confidence and a 40-hour work week
How much does Dojo Five charge?
Dojo Five uses project-based firmware engagements pricing. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does Dojo Five use?
Dojo Five works with C, C++, Python, Embedded Linux, Medical Device Firmware Standards. Primary industries served include Medical devices, Diagnostics, Connected devices.
Is Dojo Five right for enterprise?
Teams that want a remote-first firmware partner with an explicit engineering culture. 26 team size. Key consideration: 26 engineers caps concurrent capacity for a client needing several parallel workstreams.
What are the best Dojo Five alternatives?
The best alternatives to Dojo Five depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Lemberg Solutions: 200+ engineers across four countries with direct nxp, stmicroelectronics, and microchip partner status and an in-house hardware lab
- Barr Group: led by michael barr, a recognized embedded software author and former magazine editor-in-chief, giving prospective clients a public body of work to evaluate first
- Voler Systems: 46 years of continuous operation with a small, senior team rather than a fast-scaled workforce
Compare Dojo Five with other Embedded Firmware Development developers
Dojo Five vs Lemberg Solutions Dojo Five vs Barr Group Dojo Five vs Voler Systems Dojo Five vs Beningo Embedded Group Dojo Five vs RMB Consulting Dojo Five vs Conclusive Engineering Dojo Five vs A2e Technologies Dojo Five vs ByteSnap Design Dojo Five vs DE Design Works Dojo Five vs USA Firmware Dojo Five vs NOVO Engineering Dojo Five vs Droid Technologies Dojo Five vs Ignitec Dojo Five vs Oxalis Design Dojo Five vs Lobaro GmbH Dojo Five vs NeuronicWorks Dojo Five vs EmLogic AS Dojo Five vs ARCH-Embedded Dojo Five vs Zone7 Engineering Dojo Five vs Ripcord Designs Dojo Five vs Blue Sparq Dojo Five vs CMD MedTech Dojo Five vs Promenade Software Dojo Five vs Embien Technologies Dojo Five vs Klika Tech Dojo Five vs WebbyLab Dojo Five vs Waferlabs Embedded Technology Dojo Five vs EES
Verify all details directly with Dojo Five before making a decision.