Secondmind
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersCambridge, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Secondmind firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Secondmind
- Legal name
- Secondmind Ltd
- Website
- https://secondmind.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Secondmind industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Engineering AI Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)
Keywords
Where Secondmind is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Secondmind business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licensing: Cloud-native software licensing model providing access to engineering AI platform for design space exploration and calibration. Enterprise contracts with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
- Technology Services Integration: Software integrated as component of partner SCAE's technology services for Japanese OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturers.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Secondmind product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Secondmind develops and sells cloud-native engineering AI software, primarily two products—Design Space Exploration and Calibration—powered by its proprietary Secondmind Active Learning technology based on Bayesian optimization and Gaussian processes. The software helps automotive engineers reduce expensive simulations and physical prototypes, accelerate design validation, and shorten calibration cycles for complex vehicle systems.
Product overview
Secondmind is a cloud-native engineering AI software company offering two integrated products: Design Space Exploration and Calibration. Both products are powered by the proprietary Secondmind Active Learning technology—a data-efficient machine learning system based on Bayesian optimization. Design Space Exploration targets the design phase, reducing simulations by up to 80% to discover pre-validated designs across complex design spaces. Calibration targets the calibration phase, cutting calibration time by more than 50% through intelligent automation of experimental design. Together, these products help automotive engineers accelerate development while reducing reliance on expensive simulations and physical prototypes.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Design Space Exploration Cloud-native software that helps engineers discover pre-validated system, subsystem, and component designs using up to 80% fewer simulations. It uses Secondmind Active Learning to quantify uncertainty across high-dimensional design spaces and enables confident trade-off analysis for automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
- Calibration Cloud-native software that calibrates the performance of complex physical and virtual systems in half the time with fewer costly prototypes. It uses intelligent automation of experimental design to reduce reliance on physical testing and to focus data collection on what most contributes to achieving performance objectives for automotive customers.
- Secondmind Active Learning Advanced machine learning system at the heart of Secondmind's cloud-native software products that intuitively selects only the most important data needed to meet engineering optimization objectives. Combines purpose-built ML algorithms with intelligently automated experimental design to enhance exploration, reduce development time and overhead, and achieve better results for complex engineering design and performance challenges.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 80% reduction in design simulations
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Secondmind
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Secondmind technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
Secondmind partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- SC Automotive Engineering (SCAE)coreStrategic reseller agreement where SCAE offers Secondmind's cloud-native model-based engineering AI software to Japanese OEMs and Tier 1 vehicle manufacturers. This is SCAE's first partnership with a non-Japanese technology company. SCAE integrates Secondmind's software as a key component of its leading technology services, targeting rising development complexity for CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric) vehicles.
- Mazda Motor CorporationcoreExpanded strategic partnership to develop AI-driven automotive design and validation solutions, supporting system engineering and virtualization efforts. Mazda joined Secondmind's $16M funding round and has achieved 59% reduction in engineering-hours using Secondmind's calibration technology. Partnership aims to enhance vehicle engineering through virtualization and optimize vehicle performance.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Secondmind competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Ansys: Largest pure-play engineering simulation vendor with optiSLang for design optimization and increasingly embedded AI/ML capabilities. Serves the same automotive OEM and Tier 1 engineering audience as Secondmind but as part of a broad CAE portfolio rather than a specialized ML platform.
- Siemens Digital Industries Software (Simcenter HEEDS): Simcenter HEEDS is a leading design space exploration and optimization platform, addressing the same automotive engineering workflow as Secondmind. Backed by Siemens' broader CAD/PLM stack, it competes on workflow integration rather than data-efficient ML.
- Dassault Systèmes (3DEXPERIENCE): Provides CATIA/SIMULIA and 3DEXPERIENCE platforms used by global automotive OEMs for design and engineering. Increasingly embedding AI optimization into its suite, competing head-to-head with Secondmind's Active Learning proposition at the platform level.
- Altair: Simulation, HPC, and AI-driven design optimization vendor (HyperStudy, Altair Activate) serving automotive and industrial customers. Competes on breadth of CAE/HPC workflow and embedded ML rather than data efficiency.
- MathWorks (MATLAB/Simulink): Dominant tool for control systems and calibration in automotive powertrain engineering (via Simulink and Model-Based Design). Represents the incumbent workflow that Secondmind's cloud-native Active Learning must integrate with or displace.
- dSPACE: Specialist in automotive ECU development, calibration, and validation hardware/software. Deeply embedded in OEM powertrain calibration workflows, competing with Secondmind for the same calibration budget line item.
Direct peers
- Monolith AI: London-based AI engineering platform using proprietary ML to accelerate simulation and design workflows for automotive and aerospace customers. Direct competitor to Secondmind with the same data-efficiency narrative and overlapping OEM target accounts.
- Rescale: Cloud HPC platform for engineering and scientific simulations, increasingly layering AI/optimization capabilities on top of its CAE orchestration layer. Direct competitor for cloud-native engineering AI workloads in automotive R&D.
- SigOpt (Intel): Bayesian optimization and ML experimentation platform — the closest pure technical competitor to Secondmind Active Learning. Acquired by Intel in 2020, demonstrating both the strategic value of this category and the risk of acquisition by a larger incumbent.
Emerging players
- Applied Intuition: High-growth simulation and ADAS/AV tooling platform for automotive OEMs and AV developers. Adjacent competitor as automotive engineering workflows converge across calibration, design space exploration, and autonomy simulation.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Secondmind social profiles
Digital presenceSecondmind financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Secondmind leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Secondmind funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Secondmind M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Secondmind
What does Secondmind do?
Secondmind develops and sells cloud-native engineering AI software, primarily two products—Design Space Exploration and Calibration—powered by its proprietary Secondmind Active Learning technology based on Bayesian optimization and Gaussian processes. The software helps automotive engineers reduce expensive simulations and physical prototypes, accelerate design validation, and shorten calibration cycles for complex vehicle systems.
Is Secondmind a public or private company?
Secondmind is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Secondmind founded?
Secondmind was founded in 2016. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Secondmind based?
Secondmind is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Secondmind make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Licensing is the primary driver. The others are technology Services Integration.
Who are Secondmind's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Ansys, Siemens Digital Industries Software (Simcenter HEEDS), Dassault Systèmes (3DEXPERIENCE), Altair, MathWorks (MATLAB/Simulink) and dSPACE. Direct peers are Monolith AI, Rescale and SigOpt (Intel). Applied Intuition is listed as an emerging player.
Does Secondmind have an API?
No public API is recorded for Secondmind.
What industry is Secondmind in?
Secondmind's product category is Engineering AI Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEANAA, End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management), with a secondary code of HDAEANAJ, AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.