Hiring one mechanical, electrical or embedded engineer takes roughly 40 hours of senior engineering time across phone screens, take-home reviews and onsite interviews, according to Colare , the San Francisco startup that raised a $2.5 million pre-seed round from Afore Capital , Garage Capital and Acadian Ventures . The company launched publicly the same day with simulation-based assessments in which candidates solve realistic engineering problems in the tools they would use on the job before anyone books an interview. About half of its clients are in aerospace and defense.

The Hardtech Market Colare Serves

The industries that hire hardware engineers are growing quickly. The global space economy reached a record $686 billion in 2025, up 12% from 2024, with commercial activity making up $544.3 billion or 79% of the total, according to the Space Foundation's annual report as summarized by Payload . Its five-year compound growth rate is close to 10%.…