CFD Research

What CFD Research does

CFD Research Corporation is a privately held, 100% employee-owned (ESOP since October 2023) research and development company founded in 1987 and headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, with additional operations in Hollywood, AL; Beavercreek, OH; and Fort Walton Beach, FL. The company operates a "technology–services–products" model anchored in multi-physics modeling and simulation, computational fluid dynamics, and systems engineering, delivering advanced R&D to U.S. Department of Defense agencies (Air Force, Army, Navy, DARPA, DMEA, DHA), NASA, NIH, and selected commercial partners.

Core technical capabilities include evolutionary-algorithm-based design optimization for guided weapons, uncertainty quantification for aeroelastic systems, multi-scale biomedical simulation, microfluidic cell-based assays (SynVivo), metasurface optics, Gallium Oxide power electronics, photonic integrated circuits, and AI/ML pipelines for autonomous sensing, prognostics, and radiation-hardness prediction. These capabilities have produced multiple named products (SynVivo, Bio-Battery, Kalm Patch, SonoProtech, VestRX-MIL, Warfighter Avatars, NanoTCAD, CPDAC) and spin-out companies (SynVivo, Kalm Therapeutics, TheraVista Health, SonoProtech, Theraplay Analytics).

Revenue is generated primarily through competitive federal contracting — SBIR/STTR Phase I/II/III awards, IDIQ vehicles (OASIS+, EWAAC, JADC2 with a $950M ceiling), and direct prime awards from AFRL, NASA, DARPA, NIH, and DHA — supplemented by exclusive technology licensing agreements (EaglePicher, Altus Brands, Rolls-Royce, Cogenesis Biotech, Akermin) and equity-style returns from commercial spin-outs. Go-to-market is sales-led and government-relationship-driven, with subcontracting roles supporting defense primes including L3Harris Technologies (NGJ-LB) and Kratos Defense (MACH-TB 2.0). Certification posture (AS9100 D/ISO 9001:2015) and Inc. 5000 inclusion for five of the last six years underscore execution momentum, though specific revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

CFD Research

Legal name

CFD Research Corporation

Website

https://cfd-research.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

CFD Research is a 100% employee-owned R&D firm that applies multi-physics modeling, simulation, and AI/ML to deliver advanced technology, engineering services, and products to U.S. defense agencies (AFRL, DARPA, DHA), NASA, NIH, and select commercial licensees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Huntsville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government R&D Contracts: Primary revenue stream through competitive government contracts from DoD agencies (Air Force, Army, Navy, DARPA, DTRA, DMEA), NASA, NIH, and other federal agencies. Mix of SBIR/STTR Phase I/II/III contracts, IDIQ contracts, and prototype project agreements.
2. Technology Licensing: Revenue from licensing proprietary technologies to commercial partners including battery technology to EaglePicher, hearing protector technology to Altus Brands, inhaler spacer technology to Cogenesis Biotech, and fuel injector patents to Rolls-Royce.
3. Nondilutive Grant Funding: NIH and other agency grants providing nondilutive funding for biomedical research including drug discovery and clinical trial advancement.
4. Spin-out Companies: Revenue from spin-off companies including TheraVista Health (digital health), Kalm Therapeutics (skin treatments), SynVivo (microfluidic platforms), SonoProtech (hearing protection), and Theraplay Analytics (physical therapy).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CFD Research is an R&D company that develops modeling and simulation software, multi-physics simulation tools, AI/ML frameworks, and test & evaluation tools for systems engineering. It delivers contract R&D services, develops prototype products, and licenses proprietary technologies across defense, space, biosciences, and energy markets for government and commercial customers.

Product overview

CFD Research is a technology R&D company that develops products across three main sectors: Defense/Space, Biosciences/Life Sciences, and Energy/Materials. The company operates on a platform-plus-products model, offering core technology platforms (modeling & simulation, computational fluid dynamics, AI/ML) that are applied to develop specific commercial and government products. Key commercial products include SynVivo (microfluidic cell-based assay platform), Bio-Battery (enzymatic fuel cell technology), Kalm Patch (skin treatment for eczema/psoriasis spun out as Kalm Therapeutics), SonoProtech (advanced hearing protection), and TheraVista Health/Theraplay Analytics (physical therapy rehabilitation technologies). The company also develops specialized defense products including warfighter avatars, vestibular rehabilitation systems (VestRX-MIL), photonic integrated circuits, metasurface optics, and Gallium Oxide power electronics. CFD Research leverages its modeling and simulation expertise to create products for government and commercial customers, with multiple spin-out companies formed to commercialize specific technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SynVivo: Microfluidic cell-based assay platform for medical research and drug discovery
• Kalm Therapeutics (Kalm Tx)
• TheraVista Health
• SonoProtech
• Theraplay Analytics
• Bio-Battery
• ArmyTar
• Delta Foundation

Products and services

• SynVivo Microfluidic cell-based assay platform for medical research that enables real-time analysis and visualization of drug delivery and cellular interactions, including 3D tumor microenvironment models for personalized cancer treatment. Acquired brand retained as wholly owned subsidiary.
• Kalm Patch Non-steroidal skin treatment patch for eczema and psoriasis developed with NIH NCCIH funding to advance into clinical trials; target population includes approximately 16 million Americans with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis.
• Kalm Therapeutics (Kalm Tx) Spin-out company formed to commercialize the Kalm Patch non-steroidal eczema treatment for patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis.
• Bio-Battery

Quantifiable outcome

• 112% revenue growth over three-year period
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• Kratos Defense & Security SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 January 2025Selected as team member on five-year OTA contract for Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0 under Task Area 1, led by Kratos.
• OtherLeft VenturesstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Partnership to launch TheraVista Health Inc., a digital health company focused on the physical therapy market.
• Altus BrandsstrategicOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 8 January 2023Exclusive licensing agreement for advanced hearing protector technology (SonoProtech) enabling commercialization through Altus Brands distribution network.
• Stanford UniversitystrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019STTR collaboration with Stanford on multiphase combustion modeling for Navy applications.
• University of Washington and University of South CarolinastrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 September 2019Partnership on Air Force contract to develop design automation tool for integrated nanophotonics.
• EaglePicherstrategicOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 23 January 2019Exclusive agreement for high-voltage battery materials technology providing significant performance improvements for battery applications.
• iXpressGenesstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2018Acquired the Microbiome-based Drug Discovery division of iXpressGenes, both associate companies at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.
• Harvard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2016Cooperative agreement for human-on-a-chip project developing physiologically realistic in vitro tissue models for drug testing and personalized medicine.
• ESI Energy SolutionsstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2016Air Force contract collaboration on physics-based CFD modeling tool for fuel spurt phenomena assessment.
• Thin Red Line AerospacestrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2016NASA collaboration on Light-weight Inflatable Structural Airlock (LISA) design project.
• Raytheon Missile SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2015DoD mentor-protégé program partnership that earned the prestigious Nunn-Perry Award. Raytheon mentored CFD Research in defense contracting business development.
• Rolls-RoycestrategicOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 5 November 2013Purchased patent for Piloted Airblast low emission engine fuel injectors for commercial and defense aerospace applications.
• Akermin, Inc.strategicOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 28 November 2012Licensed enzymatic cathode technology from Akermin to strengthen bio-battery product line capabilities.
• Cogenesis BiotechstrategicOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 22 October 2008Exclusive license and joint development agreement for patented spacer technology for respiratory drug delivery.
• University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing research partnership including joint work on plasma technology, aerospace engineering, and the Ashok K. Singhal Endowed Chair in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. UAH is a key academic partner for CFD Research's research initiatives.
• UC San Diego Jacobs School of EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on DARPA's Simulating Microbial Systems program to build whole-cell models of E. coli bacteria. Researchers at UC San Diego Future Biomanufacturing Center collaborating on the $4.1M project.
• HudsonAlpha Institute for BiotechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-location partner and collaborator on microbiome research, pancreatic cancer treatment, and other biotechnology initiatives. Multiple joint publications and technology developments.
• L3Harris TechnologiescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrime contractor relationship where L3Harris awarded CFD Research a contract to support Next Generation Jammer Low Band (NGJ-LB) Engineering and Manufacturing Development under a $587M Navy contract.
• Vanderbilt UniversitystrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeamed with Vanderbilt University on NASA contract for forecasting solar particle events and their effects on space electronics.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Leidos: Leidos is a top-tier federal science and IT solutions contractor with deep DoD, NASA, and NIH R&D exposure — a much larger, publicly-traded incumbent competing for many of the same SBIR/IDIQ task orders and prime contracts that CFD Research pursues.
• SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation): SAIC is a large, publicly-traded federal R&D and systems integrator serving DoD, NASA, NIH, and intelligence agencies — overlapping with CFDRC on modeling & simulation, biomedical, and defense modernization task orders.
• Alion Science and Technology: Alion is a midsized defense R&D engineering firm (now part of HII) providing advanced engineering, IT, and naval/DoD solutions — overlapping with CFDRC on systems engineering, modeling & simulation, and defense modernization task orders.
• ANSYS: ANSYS is a publicly-traded leader in computational fluid dynamics and multiphysics simulation software — adjacent to CFDRC's CFD and multi-physics simulation core but operating as a commercial software platform at much greater scale.
• Battelle Memorial Institute: Battelle is a large nonprofit R&D organization managing national-security, biomedical, and energy programs for federal agencies — a broad incumbent comparable in commercial-physical-biological research, defense technology, and lifecycle management to CFDRC.

Direct peers

• Kitware: Kitware is a mid-sized R&D company specializing in computer vision, AI/ML, and scientific computing for DARPA, NIH, and DoD — closely aligned with CFDRC's open-systems, AI/ML, and biomedical engineering work.
• Torch Technologies: Torch Technologies is a Huntsville-based defense contractor and frequent teammate of CFD Research on AMCOM EXPRESS and missile defense programs — a near-perfect peer in geography, customer base (Army/AMCOM, AFRL, NASA), and SBIR/IDIQ contracting approach.
• Applied Research Associates (ARA): ARA is a privately-held scientific R&D and engineering firm working on defense, aerospace, biomedical, and infrastructure problems — directly comparable in mission, customer base (DoD, NASA), and SBIR-heavy business model to CFD Research.
• SciTec, Inc. SciTec is a small, employee-owned defense R&D company specializing in remote sensing, missile defense, and space systems analysis, sharing CFDRC's Huntsville-adjacent customer set (MDA, AFRL, NASA) and small-business contracting posture.
• UES, Inc. UES is a Dayton-area defense R&D firm serving AFRL, NASA, and DoD customers with materials science, aerospace, and sensor engineering — directly comparable to CFDRC's Beavercreek/WPAFB-adjacent operations and SBIR-driven business model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CFDResearchCorp
• Facebookfacebook.com/CFD-Research-Corporation-1549516098707562
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cfd-research-corporation
• Xx.com/cfdresearchcorp

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about CFD Research