What isee systems does

isee systems inc. is a privately held software company founded in 1985 in Lebanon, New Hampshire, that develops and sells Systems Thinking and Dynamic Modeling software. Its flagship Stella platform enables users to construct causal loop diagrams and stock-and-flow simulations of complex systems, then run what-if scenarios, test hypotheses, and publish interactive simulation interfaces. The product line comprises Stella Architect (full-featured desktop with interface creation), Stella Professional (modeling and simulation), Stella Online (browser-based), iThink (legacy rebrand for business users), and the isee Player free viewer; in 2024 the company added an AI Assistant with agentic AI personas (Socrates, Athena, Merlin) that build models from natural language using Claude and Gemini LLMs.

The company monetizes through a mix of perpetual licenses ($2,999 Stella Professional), subscriptions ($399-$1,439 for desktop, $250-$1,440 for Stella Online), usage-based AI credits ($50/yr bundled), training courses ($149-$1,500), in-person workshops, consulting services, modeling support bundles ($5,375-$6,375), and maintenance contracts. Distribution is primarily direct via an online store, supplemented by a global authorized reseller network and dedicated K-12/university discount programs. The isee Exchange platform functions as a community-driven content marketplace where practitioners publish models, CLDs, and assemblies.

isee systems serves a diverse cross-section of users including businesses, educators (K-12 and universities), government agencies, researchers, and practitioners in energy, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and conservation. The company has remained founder-aligned under Co-President Karim Chichakly, has never raised external capital, and holds registered trademarks including Stella, iThink, and isee systems. It pioneered icon-based modeling with STELLA in 1989, receiving the Jay Wright Forrester Award from the System Dynamics Society, and has maintained category leadership in system dynamics software for four decades.

Name

isee systems

Legal name

isee systems inc.

Website

https://iseesystems.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

isee systems inc. develops Stella, a Systems Thinking and Dynamic Modeling software platform, serving thousands of professionals, researchers, and educators across business, education, government, and research sectors globally with desktop, cloud, and AI-assisted modeling tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

System Dynamics Simulation Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Software Publishers (5132), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF)

Keywords

• Systems thinking software
• Dynamic modeling
• System dynamics simulation
• Causal loop diagrams
• Stock-flow modeling

Headquarters

HQ city

Lebanon

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Perpetual licenses and subscriptions for Stella Architect and Stella Professional desktop software. Non-academic perpetual license at $2,999 USD. Subscription options range from 2-month to annual plans.
2. Software Subscriptions: Stella Professional subscriptions (2-month $399, 6-month $949, 1-year $1,439) and Stella Online cloud access (1-month $250 to 1-year $1,440).
3. Training Courses: Online training courses from beginner to advanced levels. Course examples include Intermediate Dynamic Modeling II at $149 USD. Leadership training and workshops also available.
4. Consulting Services: Consulting branch works directly with teams to deliver clear, effective models for projects. In-person workshops and one-on-one modeling support offered.
5. Modeling Support Bundles: Eight-hour modeling support bundles with expert dynamic modeling professionals. Eight Hours w/Stella Architect at $6,375 USD, w/Stella Professional at $5,375 USD.
6. Support Contracts: Maintenance and support contracts providing software updates and installation assistance, troubleshooting and general how-to advice.
7. Free Offerings: Free Stella Online limited version (3 stocks, 20 entities), free isee Player for running Stella simulations, free webinars and tutorials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

isee systems develops and sells Systems Thinking and Dynamic Modeling software centered on the Stella product family. Customers use Stella Architect, Stella Professional, and Stella Online to build stock-flow and causal loop models, simulate complex systems over time, run what-if scenarios, and publish interactive simulation interfaces for stakeholders. The company also offers training courses, in-person workshops, expert consulting services, modeling support bundles, and a community platform (isee Exchange) for sharing models.

Product overview

isee systems offers a suite of Systems Thinking and Dynamic Modeling software products centered around the Stella platform. The core products include Stella Architect (flagship with full modeling and interface creation), Stella Professional (modeling and simulation without interface tools), Stella Online (web-based access), and iThink (functionally identical rebranding for business users). The isee Exchange platform enables sharing models, sim apps, and assembly bundles. Additional offerings include isee Player (free model viewer), AI Assistant (agentic AI for model building), Training courses, Workshops, Consulting services, and Modeling Support bundles. The software enables simulation of complex systems for decision-making across Business, Education, Government, Research, Energy, Health, Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Conservation sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Stella Live: Real-time analytics feature in Stella software for dynamically exploring model behavior with instant updating.
• Causal Lens
• Loops That Matter
• Socrates (AI Coach)
• Athena (AI Guide)
• Merlin (AI Craftsman)

Products and services

• Stella Architect Flagship desktop software for creating complex dynamic models and engaging interactive interfaces. Includes full modeling and simulation functionality, interface creation tools with templates, storytelling, animations, video, graphics and navigation, and the ability to publish models to the web. Target users are professional modelers and organizations needing publishable simulations for stakeholders.
• Stella Professional Complete desktop modeling tool for dynamic modeling, policy analysis, and strategy development. Offers modeling and simulation functionality without interface creation tools, with Assemblies for premade model structures, Loops That Matter visualization, Cycle Time computation, Data Manager, and Sensitivity analysis. Target users are analysts and researchers focused on model construction and analysis.
• Stella Online Web-based modeling tool accessible on any browser for creating and sharing simulation models. Includes a free limited version (3 stocks, 20 entities) and a paid Stella Professional Online subscription for unlimited online modeling. Target users are individuals and organizations needing browser-based access without a desktop install.
• Stella Professional Online Complete web-based modeling tool for dynamic modeling, policy analysis, and strategy development. Included with Stella Architect and Stella Professional maintenance contracts. Provides unlimited stocks, entities, modules, graphs, and comparative runs.
• iThink Functionally identical to Stella Architect, rebranded for users more familiar with the iThink brand. Available since 1990 for business simulation users.
• isee Player Free software for Windows and macOS that allows users to view, run, and share Stella models. Enables communication of systems without requiring a paid Stella purchase. Requires a free account to download.
• isee Exchange Web-based repository and community platform for sharing models, simulation apps (sim apps), causal loop diagrams (CLDs), and assembly bundles created by Stella users worldwide. Both free and paid publishing options are available.
• AI Assistant AI-powered feature in Stella Enterprise, Stella Architect, and Stella Professional that includes agentic AI (Socrates, Athena, Merlin) for guided and autonomous model building, plus basic user-directed mode with 'Build qualitative/quantitative' and 'Discuss Seldon' chat features. Supports Claude and Gemini LLMs.
• Training Courses Online training courses from beginner to advanced levels including Introduction to Dynamic Modeling I & II, Dynamic Modeling I & II, Intermediate Dynamic Modeling I & II, Systems Thinking Practice, Systems Thinking Concepts, Strategic Business Development, and Modeling Projects. Taught by experts including Dr. Karim Chichakly and Bob Eberlein.
• Workshops In-person immersive two-day workshops for learning dynamic modeling with Stella. Includes Introduction to Dynamic Modeling Workshop and Intermediate Dynamic Modeling Workshop covering case studies in Price & Inventory Dynamics, Supply Chain, Bass Diffusion, Customer Acquisition, Process Dynamics, and Human Resources. Pricing example: $1,500 USD with discounts for University (20%) and K-12 (50%).
• Consulting Services Expert consulting branch that works directly with teams to deliver clear, effective models for projects, addressing complex business and social problems. Includes in-person workshops and one-on-one modeling support.
• Modeling Support Bundle One-on-one modeling support with dynamic modeling professionals. Eight-hour bundle includes understanding issues, framing queries in system dynamics, and constructing models. Available with or without a Stella license (Eight Hours w/Stella Architect at $6,375 USD, w/Stella Professional at $5,375 USD).

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 463,000 runs on Predator-Prey model in isee Exchange
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature7 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• AnyLogic: AnyLogic is a multi-method simulation platform supporting agent-based, discrete event, and system dynamics modeling. It directly competes with Stella in the system dynamics modality and overlaps in use cases across supply chain, manufacturing, and operations modeling.
• Ventana Systems: Ventana Systems develops Vensim, the closest direct competitor to Stella in system dynamics modeling software. Both target system dynamics practitioners, educators, and consultants building stock-and-flow simulations. Notably, isee systems' Bob Eberlein was the primary architect of Vensim from inception through 2010, indicating deep personnel overlap between the two category leaders.
• Simul8: Simul8 is a process simulation platform competing with Stella in operational and process modeling use cases. Both serve strategy and operations analysts modeling complex dependent systems, though Simul8 focuses more on discrete event simulation.
• Powersim: Powersim builds Powersim Studio, a system dynamics and simulation tool directly comparable to Stella Architect and Stella Professional, with similar stock-flow and feedback loop capabilities targeting business strategy and policy modeling.
• ExtendSim: ExtendSim (by Imagine That, Inc.) provides discrete event, continuous, and agent-based simulation tools used for business process modeling and supply chain analysis, partially overlapping with Stella's use cases for operations and supply chain customers.

Broad incumbents

• Wolfram Research (Mathematica): Wolfram Mathematica provides general computational modeling with system dynamics and dynamical systems capabilities. It serves a broader technical audience but overlaps with Stella for academic research, energy modeling, and complex systems analysis.
• Rockwell Automation (Arena Simulation): Arena Simulation by Rockwell Automation is the dominant discrete event simulation tool in manufacturing and logistics, overlapping with Stella's Manufacturing and Supply Chain segments. Broader corporate backing gives it enterprise distribution isee systems lacks.
• MathWorks (MATLAB/Simulink): MATLAB and Simulink provide industrial-strength simulation and model-based design across engineering domains. While broader in scope (control systems, signal processing), Simulink competes for engineering modeling budgets that could otherwise fund Stella in research and education.

Others

• Lucidchart: Lucidchart is a general diagramming and visualization platform with some causal mapping capabilities. While not a direct modeling competitor, it serves as a substitute for the lighter visualization use cases of Stella in education and team collaboration contexts.

Emerging players

• Insight Maker: Insight Maker is a free, web-based causal loop and stock-flow modeling platform. It targets the same systems thinking education and conceptual modeling use cases as isee but with a freemium model and lower feature depth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@iseesystemsinc
• Xx.com/iseesystems
• Facebookfacebook.com/iseesystems
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iseesystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 isee systems