Forge

The hardware stack for Africa

From idea to product.

Forge is the full hardware stack for African makers and manufacturers — learn, design, prototype, and build, all in one place. Grounded in a live components catalog and engineer-reviewed reference designs made for African conditions.

Start designingHow it works

Free to try · naira pricing · also on WhatsApp via Pulse

A Forge user designing hardware at a workbench.
All four modules live — Learn · Design · Prototype · Build

How it works

Four modules. One platform.

Forge integrates the four jobs that move a hardware idea forward. One identity, one catalog, one cart — no handoffs between tools that don't talk to each other.

Live

Learn

Curriculum that builds real engineers.

Microscale Academy, public for the first time. Hands-on lessons, auto-graded exercises that launch into Forge Design with the right context, and certifications that mean something to Nigerian employers.

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Live

Design

Chat with an AI hardware architect.

Describe what you want to build. Forge guides you from concept → block diagram → pin-level wiring → orderable BOM, grounded in our live catalog and a curated library of engineer-reviewed sub-circuits and reference projects.

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Live

Prototype

From design to a thing you can hold.

3D printing on Creality presses, bench-top fabrication, instant naira-priced quotes from your BOM. The fastest path from a Forge design to a prototype on your desk.

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Live

Build

Take it to market.

From a design to a made, financed, connected product — boards fabricated, units assembled at vetted Nigerian partners, financing introduced, and connected products delivered on open-source iot-core. One managed relationship, tracked in one place.

Try it

The flywheel

From learner to manufacturer.

Each module feeds the next. A student finishes a lesson, opens Forge Design with the exercise pre-loaded, orders the BOM through the same account, prints the enclosure, then graduates into producing real units. The compounding loop is the moat.

  1. 01
    Enroll
  2. 02
    Learn
  3. 03
    Design
  4. 04
    Prototype
  5. 05
    Manufacture
  6. 06
    Certify

Made for Africa

Engineering decisions that fit Nigerian conditions.

Every recommendation in Forge comes with a rationale grounded in local realities — heat tolerance, dust, grid surges, repairability, naira-priced substitutions. The annotations are part of the product, not footnotes.

Outdoor IoT hardware installation in a Nigerian context.
  • LiFePO4 over Li-ion for portable solar — Nigerian heat tolerance is materially higher and cycle life through hot months is the difference between 1 year and 5.
  • Capacitive moisture probe for greenhouse irrigation — the resistive variant corrodes in 2-6 weeks when permanently buried; capacitive lasts years.
  • Generator runtime monitor as a reference project — built around the ACS712 and a small LCD, because tracking generator fuel use is the actual problem most Nigerian households want to solve.
  • Combo charger + boost module (MSC-2153) over discrete parts — one solder pattern means fewer cold-joint failures when the enclosure is sealed for months in the field.

Already at work

Live today on web and WhatsApp.

components in the live catalog
1,546components in the live catalog
engineer-reviewed sub-circuits
42engineer-reviewed sub-circuits
component pinouts
1,059component pinouts
branches across Abuja + Lagos
2branches across Abuja + Lagos

Forge Design serves customers on microscale.net and through Pulse on WhatsApp today. Inventory, pricing, and stock visibility all wired into the live distribution business.

Where do you start?

Maker or student

Describe your project. Forge will walk you to a block diagram, wiring, and an orderable BOM.

Open Forge Design
Importer or assembler

Already moving units? Forge helps you switch from finished-goods imports to local assembly without rebuilding your team.

Talk to us
Engineer or designer

Forge is your design copilot — grounded in real Nigerian-stocked parts, not generic AI guesses.

Open Forge Design