Plexim
Plexim develops PLECS, a circuit simulation platform purpose-built for power electronics and electrical drives, complemented by RT Box real-time HIL hardware. It sells perpetual software licenses plus hardware to industrial customers in automotive, renewable energy, rail, and motor drives, with academic licenses for university partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersZürich, Switzerland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Plexim does
Plexim GmbH is a privately held Swiss software company founded in 2002 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich's Power Systems Laboratory, headquartered at Technopark Zurich with a US subsidiary (Plexim Inc.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts established in 2009. The company develops PLECS, a circuit simulation platform purpose-built for power electronics and electrical drives, sold in Standalone, Blockset (MATLAB/Simulink-integrated), and Combo editions with optional PLECS Spice and PLECS Coder add-ons. Plexim's technical differentiation rests on ideal-switch modeling that requires only two solver steps per switching event, proprietary FPGA-based solvers (Nanostep with 4ns step size, FlexArray with 48-50ns step size), and multi-domain simulation spanning electrical, mechanical, magnetic, thermal, and control subsystems. The RT Box hardware family (CE, 1, 2, 3, 4) provides real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop and Rapid Control Prototyping with Xilinx Zynq processors.
Plexim's commercial model is anchored on perpetual software licenses (CHF 7,000-24,500 per seat with one year of maintenance, plus annual rental at 50% of perpetual pricing) complemented by RT Box hardware sales, free 30-day trials, no-cost academic site licenses, and free student licenses at partner universities. Distribution is direct in Europe and North America and channel-led across ten Asian markets via five authorized distributors (Infomatic, SimEngine, Milim Syscon). The customer base spans tier-one industrial groups (ABB, Siemens, Bosch, GE, Philips, SMA, Danfoss, Bombardier) across automotive, rail, renewable energy, industrial motor drives, and power supply segments, with a long academic tail. Plexim is owner-managed, has not raised external funding since founding, and describes itself as climate-neutral with a focus on long-term product quality over short-term financial metrics.
Plexim firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Plexim
- Legal name
- Plexim GmbH
- Website
- https://plexim.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Plexim develops PLECS, a circuit simulation platform purpose-built for power electronics and electrical drives, complemented by RT Box real-time HIL hardware. It sells perpetual software licenses plus hardware to industrial customers in automotive, renewable energy, rail, and motor drives, with academic licenses for university partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Plexim industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Power Electronics Simulation Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Embedded Software & Firmware Tools (Compilers, Debug, RTOS tooling) (HDAHAFAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Embedded & Compute Modules (SoMs, COM Express/SMARC, industrial SBC modules) (IMAGAJAK)
Keywords
Where Plexim is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zürich
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Plexim business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licenses: Permanent software licenses for PLECS Standalone, PLECS Blockset, and PLECS Combo with 1-year software maintenance included. Annual rental option available at 50% of permanent license price. Licenses available in Individual, Concurrent (network), and Dongle configurations.
- Academic Licensing: Specialized perpetual licenses for universities and academic institutions with discounted pricing for educational use on institution-owned computers. Includes PLECS Standalone, Blockset, Coder, and Spice in bundle configurations.
- Student Licenses: Free fully-functional student licenses valid for one year for students at universities with agreements with Plexim. Requires proof of enrollment and professor's strikethrough code.
- RT Box Hardware: Sale of RT Box real-time simulators including RT Box 1, 2, 3, 4, and CE models, plus accessories like Analog Breakout Board, Digital Breakout Board, and interface cards.
- Training and Consulting: Fee-based PLECS Conference (EUR 700 or CHF 700) and on-site workshops for advanced modeling and simulation training. Some workshops offered free of charge.
- Trial Licenses: Free 30-day trial licenses with full functionality to allow engineers to evaluate PLECS before purchasing, serving as a lead generation and conversion mechanism.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Commercial Individual License - Single user, single computer installation |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Commercial Concurrent License - Network license with multiple simultaneous users |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Commercial Dongle License - Hardware dongle for portability |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Rental - Short-term license option |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Academic Bundle Concurrent License - University network license |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Academic Individual License - Named user license for university staff |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Academic Dongle License - Portable hardware license for academic use |
| Freemium | Multi-year contract | Student License - Free license for students at partner universities |
| Unit Pricing | One time/ perpetual license | RT Box Hardware - Real-time simulators for HIL and RCP |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels8 records
Plexim product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Plexim develops and sells PLECS, a circuit simulation software for power electronics and electrical drives, offered as PLECS Standalone (independent), PLECS Blockset (MATLAB/Simulink integration), and the PLECS Combo bundle. Add-on modules include PLECS Coder (automatic ANSI-C code generation for embedded microcontrollers) and PLECS Spice. The company also manufactures and sells the RT Box family of real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and rapid control prototyping simulators built around Xilinx Zynq CPUs and FPGAs with proprietary Nanostep and FlexArray solvers.
Product overview
Plexim offers PLECS, the leading simulation software for power electronics systems and electric drives, available in multiple editions: PLECS Standalone (independent), PLECS Blockset (for MATLAB/Simulink), and PLECS Combo (both editions). Add-on modules include PLECS Coder for automatic embedded code generation and PLECS Spice for detailed SPICE model simulation. The RT Box family provides hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulators with real-time capabilities, including models CE, 1, 2, 3, and 4 with varying CPU/FPGA capabilities. Target Support Packages enable code generation for Texas Instruments C2000, STMicroelectronics STM32, and Infineon XMC microcontrollers. Plexim also provides online training through Plexim Academy, hosts the annual PLECS Conference, and offers hands-on workshops.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PLECS: The primary circuit simulator software for power electronics and electrical drives developed by Plexim
- PLECS Coder
- RT Box
- PLECS Academy
- Nanostep
- FlexArray
Products and services
- PLECS Standalone Independent circuit simulation software for power electronic systems and electrical drives, with its own solvers, component libraries, schematic editor, and multi-domain modeling (electrical, thermal, mechanical, magnetic, control). Targeted at commercial and academic power electronics engineers who do not require MATLAB/Simulink.
- PLECS Blockset Version of PLECS integrated as an extension for MATLAB/Simulink, combining PLECS circuit simulation with the Simulink environment. Requires MATLAB and Simulink.
- PLECS Combo License bundle that allows use of both PLECS Blockset and PLECS Standalone on the same computer, targeted at users who need both the Simulink-integrated and independent versions.
- PLECS Spice Add-on module enabling SPICE-based simulation of complex power electronic systems for more detailed physical behavior capture, including component parasitics, at the cost of increased simulation time.
- PLECS Coder Automatic code generation tool that converts PLECS control models into ANSI-C source code for real-time simulations on the RT Box or embedded microcontroller platforms (TI C2000, STM32, Infineon XMC), simplifying microcontroller programming with graphical configuration of PWM, ADCs, and GPIOs.
- PLECS Web-Based Simulation (WBS) Add-on module that allows publishing PLECS Standalone models on web pages for product marketing or educational purposes; models can be simulated directly in modern web browsers without software installation.
- RT Box CE Entry-level educational version of the RT Box designed for teaching and laboratory exercises; features a Xilinx Zynq processor with 1 GHz CPU clock and Nanostep solver with 7.5 ns step size.
- RT Box 1 Versatile and scalable RT Box for HIL and Rapid Control Prototyping applications; features Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ processor with 1.5 GHz CPU clock, 3 CPU cores, and FlexArray and Nanostep FPGA solvers.
- RT Box 2 Multi-core CPU and FPGA RT Box for faster and more complex circuits; features enhanced processing power for demanding power electronics simulations.
- RT Box 3 RT Box with extended I/Os designed for Multilevel Converters and Island Grids, supporting complex power electronic systems requiring additional interface options.
- RT Box 4 Latest HIL simulator from Plexim designed for fast-switching power electronics including Dual Active Bridges (DABs) and LLC converters; features the Nanostep solver with 4 ns step size and 6 high-speed analog outputs updated at 125 MSPS.
- Analog Breakout Board Interface card accessory for quick and easy connection of external hardware to the RT Box analog inputs and outputs.
- Digital Breakout Board Interface card accessory for connecting external digital signals to the RT Box for PWM capture and generation and general-purpose digital I/O applications.
- LaunchPad-Nucleo Interface Interface board for connecting TI LaunchPad or STM32 Nucleo development boards to the RT Box for rapid control prototyping.
- ControlCard Interface Interface for connecting control cards to the RT Box for hardware-in-the-loop testing.
- TI C2000 Target Support Package Target Support Package for automatic code generation from PLECS control models to Texas Instruments C2000 microcontrollers, including code for user-defined control algorithms and configuration of on-chip peripherals and protocol interfaces. Supports F28003x, F28004x, F2806x, F2833x, F2837x, F2838x, F28P55x, F28P65x, and F29H85x microprocessors.
- STM32 Target Support Package Target Support Package for automatic code generation from PLECS control models to STMicroelectronics STM32 microcontrollers, including code for control algorithms and configuration of on-chip peripherals. Supports STM32G431, STM32G474, STM32G441, STM32G473, STM32G484, STM32G491, STM32F303, and STM32F334 microprocessors.
- XMC Target Support Package Target Support Package for automatic code generation from PLECS control models to Infineon XMC microcontrollers. Supports XMC1400 and XMC4400 microprocessors.
- PLECS Conference Annual fee-based conference (EUR 700 or CHF 700) on Real-Time Simulation in Power Electronics, featuring speakers from industry, research, and academia presenting current HIL testing and power electronics applications. Held in Zurich, Switzerland.
- PLECS Workshops On-site and remote workshops covering advanced modeling and simulation of power electronic systems; topics include PLECS introduction, solver settings, thermal simulation, and code generation workflow for RT Box and microcontrollers.
- Engineering Services Paid technical support and consulting services for PLECS users, including application support and custom development assistance from Plexim engineers.
- Plexim Academy Online training portal providing educational material about power electronic systems and analog electronics, including interactive circuit models that can be simulated directly in web browsers without software installation.
Quantifiable outcome
- Simulation step sizes as small as 4ns with Nanostep solver
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Plexim
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Plexim technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Feature7 records
Plexim partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and primary.
- Alfred UniversityminorSwiss company Plexim donated PLECS power electronics simulation software to Alfred University in New York, providing free academic licenses to the institution. Software installed in Edibon Power Systems Simulation Lab for engineering students to model electrical circuits, power converters, and control systems.
- Infomatic (Shenzhen) Technologies Co., Ltd.primaryAuthorized distributor for China responsible for local sales, technical support, and customer service for PLECS products. Located at 35/F Panglin Plaza, 2002 Jiabin Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen 518001, China. Contact: +86 134 7255 8339.
- SimEngine Co., LtdprimaryAuthorized distributor for Japan responsible for local sales, technical support, and customer service. Located at Glory Kenchomae 7th floor (702), 4-29-49 Chiyo, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0044, Japan. Contact: +81 92 292 5066.
- Milim Syscon Co., Ltd.primaryAuthorized distributor for Korea responsible for local sales, technical support, and customer service. Located at B214 Biz Center, SKn Technopark, 190-1 Sangdaewon-Dong, Jungwon-Gu, Seongnam-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 462-120, Korea. Contact: +82 (0)31 776 2288.
- Infomatic Pte. Ltd.primaryAuthorized distributor for Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Philippines. Located at #07-54 Paya Lebar Square, 60 Paya Lebar Road, Singapore 409051. Contact: +65 90906523.
- Infomatic Co., Ltd.primaryAuthorized distributor for Taiwan responsible for local sales and support. Located at 10F, No. 217, Sec. 2, Danjin Rd., Tamsui Dist., New Taipei City 251009, Taiwan. Contact: +886 905053288.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Plexim competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- MathWorks: MathWorks' MATLAB/Simulink is the dominant control-systems simulation platform and is required to run PLECS Blockset. Plexim's Standalone offering and its specialized solvers position it as both a partner (via Blockset) and a substitute for Simulink's power-electronics capabilities.
- ANSYS: ANSYS offers multiphysics simulation including the Simplorer (now Ansys Twin Builder) power-electronics and circuit simulator. ANSYS competes with PLECS at the system-level simulation layer while also offering broader electromagnetic and thermal tools.
- Keysight Technologies: Keysight offers EDA tools (including the PathWave ADS suite) and test/measurement hardware used in power-electronics design. Its system-level and RF design suites overlap with PLECS in select customer segments.
- Cadence Design Systems: Cadence's Spectre/PSpice and system-level tools serve the EDA market broadly. While focused on IC design, its tools are also used for power-electronics circuit simulation, making it an indirect competitor to PLECS.
- Altair Engineering: Altair offers simulation software including PSIM (acquired from Powersim) focused on power electronics and motor drives. PSIM directly competes with PLECS in power-electronics simulation for industrial and academic users.
- Siemens EDA (Mentor Graphics): Siemens EDA provides system-level and circuit simulation tools (e.g., SystemVision) that overlap with PLECS for power-electronics and mechatronic system design, particularly inside Siemens' broader industrial customer base.
Direct peers
- dSPACE: dSPACE provides hardware-in-the-loop simulators and rapid control prototyping tools widely used in automotive and power-electronics development. Its HIL/SCALEXIO product line competes directly with Plexim's RT Box family for HIL and RCP customers.
- Typhoon HIL: Typhoon HIL specializes in real-time HIL simulation specifically for power electronics, directly overlapping Plexim's RT Box and PLECS offerings. Both target power-electronics R&D and renewable/automotive converter development.
- OPAL-RT Technologies: OPAL-RT provides real-time digital simulators and HIL platforms for power systems, drives, and power electronics. It competes with Plexim RT Box in HIL simulation, particularly for grid and motor-drive applications.
- Speedgoat: Speedgoat provides real-time target machines for Simulink-based HIL and rapid control prototyping. Like Plexim, it targets power-electronics and motor-control developers; Speedgoat is a closer peer to RT Box than to PLECS software.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Plexim social profiles
Digital presencePlexim financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Plexim leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Plexim subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Plexim funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Plexim 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 Plexim
What does Plexim do?
Plexim develops and sells PLECS, a circuit simulation software for power electronics and electrical drives, offered as PLECS Standalone (independent), PLECS Blockset (MATLAB/Simulink integration), and the PLECS Combo bundle. Add-on modules include PLECS Coder (automatic ANSI-C code generation for embedded microcontrollers) and PLECS Spice. The company also manufactures and sells the RT Box family of real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and rapid control prototyping simulators built around Xilinx Zynq CPUs and FPGAs with proprietary Nanostep and FlexArray solvers.
Is Plexim a public or private company?
Plexim is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Plexim founded?
Plexim was founded in 2002. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Plexim based?
Plexim is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Plexim make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are academic Licensing, student Licenses, RT Box Hardware, training and Consulting and trial Licenses.
Who are Plexim's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are MathWorks, ANSYS, Keysight Technologies, Cadence Design Systems, Altair Engineering and Siemens EDA (Mentor Graphics). Direct peers are dSPACE, Typhoon HIL, OPAL-RT Technologies and Speedgoat.
Does Plexim have an API?
Yes. PLECS Standalone includes an XML-RPC interface that allows external programs to send and receive data to and from PLECS. Programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, or Ruby can be used as XML-RPC clients. The tutorial demonstrates using Python 3 to launch PLECS simulations and retrieve results for post-processing. Additionally, PLECS Standalone has an internal scripting environment for parameter sweeps and multiple waveform traces.
What industry is Plexim in?
Plexim's product category is Power Electronics Simulation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHAFAE, Embedded Software & Firmware Tools (Compilers, Debug, RTOS tooling), with a secondary code of IMAGAJAK, Embedded & Compute Modules (SoMs, COM Express/SMARC, industrial SBC modules). Its NAICS code is 5415 and its SIC code is 7373.