History

Dassault Systèmes was established in 1981, starting with a focus on CAD and aerospace projects.  In the decades since, we’ve grown to become a global leader in sustainable innovation, with 13 brands spanning the product development cycle serving over 300,000 companies of all sizes and industries.

40+ Years of Innovation and Success

Since 1981 we have helped thousands of manufacturers reinvent their development and production methods to enable sustainable innovation and catalyze the modern world’s greatest industrial transformations. Two generations of innovators at Dassault Systèmes have revealed the power of virtual worlds to imagine and create disruptive innovations, and to empower businesses to realize their greatest ambitions.

Our Story Through the Years

From 3D design to 3D experiences, Dassault Systèmes has transformed the way products are designed, simulated and produced across industries. Having started with virtual twins of things – planes, cars, factories, cities – we now extend this capability to living organisms, including human beings. We’re a little more than 40 years in, but we’re just getting started.

 

Creation of Dassault Systèmes > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 1981 –

Creation of Dassault Systèmes

Dassault Systèmes is established to design products in three dimensions, through the spin‑off by a team of engineers from Dassault Aviation; the initial goal is to address the aerospace industry’s need for more sophisticated drafting tools to streamline the development process and aid in the increasing complexity of aviation design.

YEAR 1981 –

CATIA

Dassault Systèmes’ flagship brand, CATIA, is released to provide multi-platform software for computer-aided design (CAD), manufacturing, computer-aided engineering (CAE), 3D modeling and product lifecycle management (PLM), initially for the aerospace and automotive industries.

CATIA V1 > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 1981 –

Agreement with IBM

Signed worldwide marketing, sales and support agreement with IBM; the beginning of a long‑standing partnership.

CATIA V3 > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 1986 –

CATIA V3

Launch of CATIA Version 3, with CAE functionality on UNIX and mainframe platforms.

1989-1998
CATIA V4 > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 1994 –

CATIA V4

V4 architecture introduced to offer a new technology for creating the full 3D Digital Mock-Up (DMU) of a product, allowing customers to significantly reduce the number of physical prototypes and to have a complete understanding of the product, virtually.

YEAR 1994 –

Expanded Industry Focus

Increased industry focus to include Fabrication and Assembly, Consumer Goods, High‑Tech, Shipbuilding and Energy.

YEAR 1995 –

Bernard Charlès Becomes President & CEO of Dassault Systèmes

Charlès is elevated to head Dassault Systèmes, where he will remain for nearly 30 years, leading the company to introduce to the world to the power of science-based virtual universes to drive value and progress for all stakeholders, including companies, patients, consumers and citizens.

YEAR 1996 –

Initial Public Offering

IPO of Dassault Systèmes at 8,984,313 shares, representing 17.5% of the company’s outstanding shares at the time. Shares are approved for quotation on the Nasdaq Stock Market’s National Market and approved for listing on the Paris Bourse.

NASDAQ 1996 > Dassault Systèmes
SOLIDWORKS Acquisition > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 1997 –

SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS acquired to bring cost-effective, easy-to-use production solid modeling solutions to the mainstream design-centric market, enabling Dassault Systèmes to offer dedicated solutions to a greater market segment and meet the needs of customers at all levels of product and process complexity.

YEAR 1997 –

Professional Channel

Formation of Dassault Systèmes Professional Channel to focus on marketing, sales and support of SOLIDWORKS.

YEAR 1998 –

ENOVIA

Acquisition of IBM’s Product Manager software becomes ENOVIA, to manage CATIA product data for larger clients and expand 3D product lifecycle management (PLM) capabilities to transform market opportunities into marketplace advantages.

ENOVIA creation > Dassault Systèmes
1999-2011
3D PLM > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 1999 –

Product Lifecycle Management

Unveiling of an expanded addressable market vision: 3D Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for 3D design, simulation analysis, digital manufacturing and product data management to address a wider range of customers across industries who need to deliver exceptional product experiences.

YEAR 1999 –

V5 Architecture

Enhances capabilities for PLM for both Windows NT and UNIX environments.

CATIA V5 > Dassault Systèmes
Delmia creation > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2000 –

DELMIA

Creation of the DELMIA brand to address the digital manufacturing domain, including digital process planning, robotic simulation and human modeling technology. Serves industries where the continuous transformation of manufacturing processes is critical, such as automotive, aerospace and consumer goods.

YEAR 2005 –

SIMULIA

Leveraging the acquisition of Abaqus, SIMULIA brand created to add realistic simulation, representing a significant expansion of Dassault Systèmes simulation capabilities.

SIMULIA creation > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2005 –

Value Solutions Channel

Creation of indirect sales channel specifically focused on supporting SMB companies, from suppliers to OEMs.

3DVIA creation > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2007 –

3DVIA

Creation of the 3DVIA brand, building upon several years of research and investment to bring 3D technology to new users to imagine, communicate and experience in 3D. Provides enterprises and consumers with smart 3D space planning solutions that enable customers to engage, consider and make the best choices for their concept.

YEAR 2008 –

V6 Architecture

Unveiling of PLM online for all, Dassault Systèmes’ next-generation platform for PLM 2.0: a 3D online environment for everybody to experience products virtually to allow all user interactions to generate Intellectual Property (IP).

CATIA V6 > Dassault Systèmes
Acquisition of IBM PLM > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2010 –

Acquisition of IBM PLM

Dassault Systèmes acquires full control of its distribution channels with the acquisition of IBM PLM, the IBM business unit dedicated exclusively to the marketing, sales and support of PLM software. Strengthens client support with a strong, unified go-to-market model encompassing the entire Dassault Systèmes portfolio, putting a complete PLM value proposition under one umbrella.

YEAR 2010 –

EXALEAD

Adds a new brand to bring advanced search capabilities and advanced semantic processing to industries like banking, retail, publishing, business services, life sciences and consumer services where easy access to information is essential. EXALEAD is later incorporated into the NETVIBES brand.

EXALEAD Acquisition > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2011 –

IBM Transition Completed

100% of Dassault Systèmes total revenues are derived from its wholly‑directed three sales channels, completing the transition from IBM begun in 2005.

2012-2019
3DEXPERIENCE > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2012 –

3DEXPERIENCE

Expansion of Dassault Systèmes strategy to 3DEXPERIENCE and a new corporate purpose: to harmonize product, nature and life. Introduces the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to help entire organizations rethink business operations using a platform that connects people, ideas, data and solutions in a singular collaborative environment. Adds the first Industry Solution Experiences (ISE) – predefined collections of Dassault Systèmes apps that address specific industry needs and provide targeted value to customers and/or their end-users.

YEAR 2012 –

GEOVIA

Creation of GEOVIA brand – largely based on the acquisition of Gemcom – to enable users to model and simulate our planet from the vast expanse of the geosphere to the smallest details of urban settlements. Supports the sustainable capture, use and re-use of natural resources.

GEOVIA creation > Dassault Systèmes
NETVIBES acquisition > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2012 –

NETVIBES

Foundation of NETVIBES brand to bring intelligent dashboard capabilities and an easy and fast way to create personalized dashboards for real-time monitoring, social analytics, knowledge sharing and decision support to help customers reveal real-time information critical to their innovation process.

YEAR 2013 –

V6 Release 2014

Select customer are provided V6 R2014 on premise and as Software as a Service (SaaS), gaining the controlled availability of industry‑focused and user‑focused offerings. Introduces a new navigational user interface to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform – the Compass.

YEAR 2014 –

3DEXPERIENCE R2014x

Offers end‑to‑end and integrated scientific, engineering, manufacturing and business capabilities and services, with the V6 architecture as its foundation.

YEAR 2014 –

3DEXCITE

With the acquisition of Realtime Technology AG (RTT), 3DEXCITE brand created to provide professional high‑end 3D visualization software, marketing solutions and computer‑generated imaging services to extend Dassault Systèmes offerings to marketing professionals.

3DEXCITE creation > Dassault Systèmes
BIOVIA Acquisition > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2014 –

BIOVIA

With the acquisition of Accelrys, BIOVIA brand created to provide collaborative product lifecycle experiences to transform scientific innovation. Helps science-based organizations create new materials and medicines to improve the health and the life of people and the sustainability of our planet.

YEAR 2015 –

3DEXPERIENCE R2015x

Release of 3DEXPERIENCE R2015x, offering a simplified and improved user experience, with powerful enhancements that significantly increase productivity on premise as well as on public or private cloud. Introduces groupings of applications called roles, to cover industry‑specific user needs.

YEAR 2015 –

Dassault Systèmes becomes a European company

Legal transformation of Dassault Systèmes from a French public limited company (société anonyme) to a European company (Societas Europaea, SE) to reflect the company’s international dimension and growing presence throughout the world.

YEAR 2016 –

3DPLM

Acquisition of full ownership of 3D PLM Software Solutions Ltd (3DPLM), Dassault Systèmes’ joint venture in India with Geometric Ltd., fulling integrating India's strategic Research & Development laboratory teams into the company.

YEAR 2017 –

Extended partnership with Boeing

Expands Boeing’s deployment of Dassault Systèmes’ products across its commercial aircraft, space and defense programs with the adoption of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform for manufacturing operations management and PLM.

Boeing partnership > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2017 –

Outscale

Dassault Systèmes aquires a majority stake in Outscale to strengthen the management of cloud resources and services and adjust and control its cloud resources and services to manage peaks in activity, further diversify industry segments, deploy new features, and provide advanced on premise, private and hybrid cloud solutions to customers.

3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2018 –

3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace

Introduces the 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace for on-demand access to an online ecosystem of industrial service providers worldwide to help designers easily manufacture, find standard parts or hire temporary engineering.

YEAR 2018 –

Power’By

Launch of Power’By to enable all customers to benefit from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform’s value immediately, without any need for migration of legacy data. There are three levels: to enable social collaboration; to leverage hybrid data for product configuration and bill of materials; and to use the full capabilities of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

POWER'BY > Dassault Systèmes
Centric Software > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2018 –

Centric Software

Acquisition of majority ownership of Centric Software to bring software innovation to the fashion, apparel, luxury and retail sectors. Expands Dassault Systèmes’ capability to accelerate the digital transformation of companies seeking to meet the increasingly complex development of collections that respond to today’s on-trend and on-demand consumers.

YEAR 2019 –

MEDIDATA

Acquired Medidata to launch a new brand to expand Dassault Systèmes’ reach into the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector to help drive the digital transformation needed to achieve personalized medicine and patient-centric experience. Brings clinical expertise and cloud solutions that power the smarter development and commercialization of medical treatments, improve clinical trials and create tailored treatments that deliver tangible benefits to patients. 

Acquisition of Medidata > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2019 –

3DEXPERIENCE Works

Launch of 3DEXPERIENCE Works, a family of applications aimed at small and mid-sized companies, bundling SOLIDWORKS, DELMIAWORKS, ENOVIAWORKS and SIMULIAWORKS to enable organizations to bring all key stakeholders together on a singular collaborative platform and move seamlessly from ideation through delivery.  

2020-present
YEAR 2021 –

Employee Shareholding Plan

The first employee shareholding plan – Together – launched to approximately 98% of the company's workforce, enabling employees to be more closely involved in the future development of Dassault Systèmes and benefit from the value they help create on a daily basis.

YEAR 2021 –

European Green Digital Coalition

Dassault Systèmes joins the European Green Digital Coalition as a founding member to further emphasize the key role of technology in the green and digital transformation of the economy inside and outside Europe.

YEAR 2021 –

Science-Based Targets initiative

Dassault Systèmes earns approval by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for its GHG reduction targets and publication of its strategic roadmap to become carbon neutral, reaffirming the company's commitment to accelerate climate action within its own operations.

YEAR 2021 –

Renault Group

Renault globally deploys the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud as part of their “Renaulution” strategic plan, to improve data sharing and agility while reducing costs and vehicle development time.

YEAR 2022 –

Life Cycle Assessment

The Life Cycle Assessment solution is incorporated into the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to transform the sustainable innovation process by setting up sustainability requirements early on and collaboratively driving them through the design, development and manufacturing engineering phases.

YEAR 2022 –

VORTHEx Project

Dassault Systèmes, the H. HARTMANN Institute and the Institute Rafaël launch the VORTHEx Project, the world’s first 3D simulator for radiotherapy.

YEAR 2022 –

OUTSCALE

Creation of OUTSCALE brand as the leading sovereign and sustainable operator of a new cloud ecosystem to develop business experiences and address cyber governance. 

Outscale > Dassault Systèmes
YEAR 2022 –

Circuit Clinical

MEDIDATA expands and strengthens decentralized clinical trial capabilities through a groundbreaking partnership with Circuit Clinical.

YEAR 2022 –

Inria

Inria and Dassault Systèmes form a strategic alliance for a European Digital Trusted Platform.

YEAR 2022 –

Shiseido

Global beauty company Shiseido implements Dassault Systèmes’ manufacturing solutions worldwide to support their business transformation strategy to boost factory productivity and contribute to cost reduction as consumers push for greater skincare and wellness.

YEAR 2022 –

Hyundai Motor

Dassault Systèmes extends its 30-year relationship with Hyundai Motor by another five years to help Hyundai's diverse partners locally and globally foster seamless collaborative technology relationships.

YEAR 2022 –

Samsung Heavy Industries Co.

Dassault Systèmes and Samsung Heavy Industries cooperate to establish a Smart Digital Shipyard.

YEAR 2022 –

Sanofi

Dassault Systèmes partners with Sanofi generate virtual twins to design, implement, qualify and operate modular production lines at its new-generation “EVolutive Facilities” (EVF) in France and Singapore for greater agility, reliability and performance,

YEAR 2022 –

NUMSPOT

Docaposte, Dassault Systèmes, Bouygues Telecom and Banque des Territoires sign an alliance to create NUMSPOT, a company dedicated to the development of a full offering of sovereign and trusted cloud services in Europe primarily targeting economic and institutional organizations such as banks, hospital and the public sector.

YEAR 2022 –

Ecole Normale

Dassault Systèmes and École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay sign an MoU to deploy the 3DEXPERIENCE platform in university curriculum and continuing education programs, helping to drive a greater understanding of the role of virtual twins in sustainable innovation.

40 talents to celebrate 40 years of Dassault Systèmes

2021 marked the 40th anniversary of Dassault Systèmes’ founding. In addition to being talented in their professional lives, we have many employees with artistic skills that they showed off during a company-wide event.

40th anniversary of Dassault Systèmes

The Great Show

To kick off our 40 year anniversary celebration, Dassault Systemes hosted The Great Show featuring talented employees from around the world.

Our Latest Acquisitions

We are a growing company! To quickly fulfill our purpose of harmonizing product, nature and life, we have acquired many firms to advance our offerings and add people who share our vision for transforming industry.

2019
Medidata

Medidata Solutions

Adds clinical expertise & cloud solutions forsmarter development and commercialization of drugs & treatments. Improves how clinical research is designed, conducted & analyzed. Positions Dassault Systèmes’ lead the digital transformation in healthcare.

Acquisition of No Magic

No Magic

Strengthens the CATIA portfolio for model‑based systems engineering, architecture modeling for software, system of systems & enterprise business processes modeling. Allows users to implement continuous 3D digital processes & address all lifecycle aspects.

Acquisition of Majority Stake in Outscale

Acquisition of Majority Stake in Outscale

Dassault Systèmes strengthens its position as one of the fastest growing cloud companies.

Our Leadership Team

Dassault Systèmes is led by an inspiring group of executives who are committed to execute our long-term vision of driving sustainable innovation to address the world's greatest challenges.

Be a Part of Our Team

Do you have big dreams? Do you enjoy a challenge? Do you want to unleash your imagination and creativity? Join us to open new possibilities together through the power of virtual universes!