What Hestus does

Hestus, Inc. is a San Francisco-based software company founded in early 2025 by former Cruise engineers Sohrab Haghighat (CEO, PhD Aerospace Engineering) and Kevin Chu (CTO, PhD Robotics). The company builds AI-powered design software targeting the productivity bottleneck in computer-aided design (CAD), specifically the manual "click-work" of assigning constraints and dimensions during 2D sketching. Its flagship product, Sketch Helper, is an autocomplete add-in for Autodesk Fusion that uses machine learning to interpret engineer design intent and propose next design moves — constraints, generative geometry, and dimensioning — which the user can accept with a single keystroke via a red-overlay preview. The company claims its solution delivers 2.5x faster design workflows with 4x fewer clicks and up to 60% time savings on sketch finalization.

Under the hood, Sketch Helper is a recommendation engine that processes structured CAD geometry (sketches, constraints, dimensions, circles, arcs, lines) and combines geometric understanding with intent recognition to predict next moves. The product is distributed as a free download for Autodesk Fusion on Mac and Windows, with a stated release cadence that has progressed from v0.2.0 in November 2024 to v1.1.0 in December 2025. Hestus is actively collecting user interest for expansion to SolidWorks, Onshape, NX, and CATIA, signaling a horizontal platform strategy.

Hestus operates a product-led growth motion: the plugin is free and self-serve, with marketing executed through a company blog, YouTube demos, LinkedIn, earned media in engineering publications, CAD hackathons, and developer relations. Revenue is not currently disclosed and no pricing tiers have been publicly announced, though the company has hinted at future premium features and enterprise tiers. To date, Hestus has raised approximately $2M in funding across a $500K pre-seed (September 2024, Y Combinator and Unpopular Ventures) and a $1.5M seed (January 2025, led by Liquid 2 Ventures and Rock Yard Ventures with Y Combinator participation). Strategic backers also include South Park Commons and strangers fund. The team remains small at 1–10 employees and is hiring machine learning engineers and software developers to support the next phase of product and platform expansion.

Name

Hestus

Legal name

Hestus, Inc.

Website

https://hestus.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hestus builds Sketch Helper, an AI-powered autocomplete add-in for Autodesk Fusion that predicts engineer design intent and proposes constraints, geometry, and dimensions for one-keystroke acceptance, serving mechanical engineers and CAD users to reduce manual click-work in 2D sketching.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

3D Design & CAD for Additive Manufacturing (IMAAACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)

Keywords

• CAD software
• AI design automation
• Mechanical engineering software
• Computer-aided design
• Design productivity tools

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Free Plugin / Freemium: Free AI plugin for Autodesk Fusion with basic features available at no cost. Premium features or enterprise tiers may be introduced in the future.
2. Future Platform Expansion: Plans to expand to SolidWorks and other CAD platforms, potentially with platform-specific pricing tiers

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hestus develops and distributes Sketch Helper, an AI-powered autocomplete plugin/add-in for CAD (currently Autodesk Fusion on Mac and Windows) that predicts a mechanical engineer's design intent and proposes the next constraint, geometry, or dimension with one-keystroke acceptance. The product is offered as a free download and is positioned as an "autocomplete for CAD" that reduces manual clicking during 2D sketching, delivering a 2.5x faster design workflow with 4x fewer clicks.

Product overview

Hestus is an AI-powered design software startup that offers a single unified product called Sketch Helper - an autocomplete plugin for CAD. Currently available as a native add-in for Autodesk Fusion on both Mac and Windows, Sketch Helper provides AI-driven constraint recommendations, generative geometry suggestions, and automated dimensioning to reduce manual clicking in 2D sketching workflows. The company has announced plans to expand to SolidWorks and other CAD platforms in the future. The product operates through a simple one-keystroke acceptance mechanism where suggestions are previewed as red overlays before being applied.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sketch Helper AI-powered autocomplete plugin/add-in for CAD (currently Autodesk Fusion on Mac and Windows) that predicts an engineer's design intent and proposes next constraints, geometry, and dimensions for one-keystroke acceptance. Targeted at professional mechanical engineers and CAD designers doing 2D sketching and manufacturing-prep work, and currently offered as a free self-serve download with planned expansion to SolidWorks, Onshape, NX, and CATIA.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2.5x faster design workflow
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AutodeskcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2025Hestus has built native integration with Autodesk Fusion as a downloadable plugin. The Sketch Helper add-on works directly inside the Fusion environment. Plans for broader Fusion ecosystem integration including Autodesk's Sketch Helper update.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Autodesk: Owner of Fusion 360, the platform Hestus integrates with, and the broader CAD industry leader (AutoCAD, Inventor). Autodesk is both Hestus's distribution channel and the most likely competitor to ship first-party AI sketch assistance.
• Ansys: Ansys is a simulation-led incumbent increasingly moving upstream into AI-assisted design with products like Ansys SimAI. Its installed base in mechanical engineering overlaps with Hestus's target customers and could expand into the sketching/design-intent space.
• Dassault Systèmes (SolidWorks): Owner of SolidWorks and CATIA, two of Hestus's announced future platform targets. Dassault's 3DEXPERIENCE platform increasingly embeds generative and AI-assisted design features that overlap directly with Hestus's roadmap.
• Siemens Digital Industries Software (NX / Solid Edge): Siemens owns NX and Solid Edge, both of which are on Hestus's announced platform expansion roadmap. Siemens's Xcelerator portfolio and embedded AI assistants (e.g., Solid Edge AI+) represent direct incumbent competition.
• PTC (Onshape / Creo): PTC owns Onshape (a Hestus-targeted cloud-native CAD platform) and Creo, both of which are adding AI-assisted features. PTC is a direct platform incumbent and potential competitor in AI-augmented CAD.

Emerging players

• ParaMatters (CogniCAD): ParaMatters offers CogniCAD, an AI-driven CAD platform focused on generative design and topology optimization. It is an emerging player in AI-native mechanical design tooling with overlapping customer use cases.
• PhysicsX: PhysicsX builds AI for engineering and manufacturing, applying deep learning to physics simulation and design. Its focus on AI-native engineering tooling makes it a comparable emerging player serving similar mechanical-engineer personas.
• Neural Concept: Neural Concept provides AI-driven design and engineering copilots for mechanical engineers, similar to Hestus's Sketch Helper. It targets CAD/CAE productivity for industrial customers, representing a direct emerging competitor.
• Monolith AI: Monolith AI applies machine learning to engineering R&D, helping mechanical engineers accelerate design and validation. Its product overlaps with Hestus's value proposition of compressing manual engineering effort using AI.
• nTopology: nTopology applies AI and computational design to engineering workflows, with strong overlap in generative engineering and CAD productivity — a closely comparable emerging player targeting similar mechanical-engineering use cases.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hestus-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hestus