What Softelec does

Softelec GmbH is a Munich-based software company founded in 1983 that builds raster editing, vectorization, and archiving tools for scanned technical drawings. The company's product portfolio centers on VPHybridCAD, the VPmap Series for GIS and mapping workflows, VPindex/VPindex lite for raster archiving and OCR-based text extraction, and VPview for raster viewing. Technically, the products are implemented as native plug-ins - ARX modules for AutoCAD, BRX for BricsCAD, and ZRX for ZWCAD - meaning they operate inside the user's host CAD environment rather than as standalone applications, and rely on proprietary geometric recognition and OCR engines (including PowerOCR) to convert scanned paper drawings into editable vector geometry and searchable archives.

The company sells primarily through a perpetual license model with recurring maintenance contracts and network licensing, distributed via direct sales in Germany and through a network of channel partners covering more than 50 countries. Its customer base spans petrochemical, manufacturing, government, engineering, utilities, GIS, and architecture segments, with the US Department of Defense cited as a major anchor account that expanded to roughly 1,000 licenses by 1998. Softelec reports more than 14,000 cumulative licenses sold since inception and holds integration partnerships with ecosystem players such as Quanos for CATALOGcreator interoperability.

The company is privately held, headquartered near Munich, and operates with a small team (1-10 employees). Following founder Dr. Michael Horvatin's retirement in 2005, management passed to Stefan Horvatin, Bernd Rau, and Jürgen Buhr. The company has remained bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, and its recent strategic activity has focused on platform compatibility updates - most notably a 2025 release supporting BricsCAD V26, ZWCAD 2025, and AutoCAD 2026 - and incremental geographic expansion through channel partners in markets such as Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia.

Name

Softelec

Legal name

softelec gmbh

Website

https://softelec.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Softelec GmbH develops raster editing, vectorization, and archiving software for scanned technical drawings, distributed as AutoCAD/BricsCAD/ZWCAD plug-ins to engineering, manufacturing, GIS, and government customers across 50+ countries via perpetual licenses and maintenance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

CAD/GIS Raster Editing Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools) (HDAEAKAK)

Keywords

• Raster-to-vector conversion
• CAD raster editing
• GIS vectorization
• Document archiving OCR
• Scanned drawing processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

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, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Softelec sells perpetual software licenses for its VP product family (VPHybridCAD, VPmap Series, VPindex, VPview). Customers can purchase full versions through resellers or directly, with optional software maintenance contracts for updates and technical support.
2. Software Updates and Upgrades: The company offers software maintenance contracts that provide updates to newer versions and technical support. Updates require codes generated by softelec for specific hardware lock modules.
3. Network Licenses: VPLicenseManager allows simultaneous network use of VP licenses across organizations, with VPNetManager for monitoring license server status.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Softelec (softelec GmbH) develops and sells specialized software for editing, vectorizing, and archiving scanned technical drawings, plans, and maps. The company delivers four main product groups — VPHybridCAD, VPmap Series, VPindex, and VPview — that enable CAD/GIS professionals, engineers, and document archivists to convert, clean, manage, and view raster and hybrid raster/vector data.

Product overview

Softelec is a German software company founded in 1983 specializing in raster editing, vectorization, and archiving software for scanned technical drawings, plans, and maps. The product portfolio consists of four specialized product groups: VPHybridCAD (CAD, engineering — raster editing, automatic vectorization, and hybrid editing of raster and vector elements, runs as standalone or as an ARX/BRX/ZRX application inside AutoCAD, BricsCAD, or ZWCAD), VPmap Series (GIS, mapping, and facility management — georeferencing, polygon tracing, and vector export to GIS platforms), VPindex/VPindex lite (archiving, indexing, and OCR — intelligent OCR capture from title blocks for database export and document management), and VPview (viewing, inspection, and redline markup for scanned and hybrid CAD documents). All products support Windows and operate either stand-alone or within AutoCAD, BricsCAD, and ZWCAD environments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VPHybridCAD: CAD, Engineering - Software for raster editing, vectorization, and hybrid CAD processing of scanned technical drawings. Operates stand-alone or as ARX application inside AutoCAD, BricsCAD, or ZWCAD.
• VPmap Series
• VPindex
• VPview

Products and services

• VPHybridCAD
• VPmap Series
• VPindex
• VPview

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 14,000 licenses sold since founding in 1983
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.

• Contex Scanning TechnologycoreTechnology or IntegrationContex is the number 1 manufacturer of large-format scanners in black/white and color. Develops advanced scan and copy software for repro, CAD, GIS, Graphic Arts, document archiving, and architecture applications.
• ColortraccoreTechnology or IntegrationOne of the world's most significant developers of innovative large-format scanners, primarily serving CAD, GIS, and reprography applications. Headquartered near Cambridge, England.
• Quanos Service SolutionsstrategicTechnology or IntegrationQuanos CATALOGcreator module uses softelec's Hybrid-Technology as a comfortable graphic editor for hotspotting and processing 2D graphics. Batch processing allows automated conversion of raw data (DWG, TIF, PDF) with SVG output.
• AutodeskcoreTechnology or IntegrationGlobal leader in design software. Softelec's VPHybridCAD and VPmap Series operate as ARX applications inside AutoCAD and support verticals. Autodesk, AutoCAD, and RasterDWG are registered trademarks of Autodesk Inc.
• BricsyscoreTechnology or IntegrationProducts enable innovative companies to optimize complex design workflows. Present in 80 countries with software available in fifteen languages. Softelec products support BricsCAD as BRX applications.
• pit-cup GmbHminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLong-standing experience in CAD, Facility Management and building-service software. Develops PHEVAC design tool for planning in piping, air conditioning, electrical installation, and pit-FMDB for reducing facility maintenance costs.
• KIP Deutschland GmbHminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGerman reseller covering postal code areas PLZ 3-4 for VP products.
• Novageo S.A. (Portugal)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPortuguese distributor for VP software products, located in Taguspark, Porto Salvo.
• Canon Austria GmbHminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAustrian distributor for VP software products.
• BCS CAD + Information Technologies GmbHminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGerman reseller covering postal code area PLZ 0 (Dresden region) for VP products.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax): Tungsten Automation/Kofax provides enterprise document capture, OCR, and content management solutions. It competes for the same document archiving and indexing budgets as VPindex, with a much broader enterprise software portfolio.
• ABBYY: ABBYY is a global leader in OCR and document capture (FineReader, FlexiCapture). Its OCR competes with VPindex's PowerOCR capabilities, and its broader document-processing portfolio addresses similar document management and digitization use cases at greater scale.
• Adobe (Acrobat and Document Services): Adobe Acrobat includes PDF raster viewing, markup, OCR, and basic raster-to-vector capabilities that overlap partially with VPview and VPindex. As a much larger incumbent, Adobe defines pricing and feature expectations in adjacent segments.

Direct peers

• AlgoLab: AlgoLab's R2V Toolkit is a long-standing raster-to-vector conversion product for CAD, GIS, and mapping workflows. It overlaps directly with Softelec's VPHybridCAD and VPmap Series in converting scanned drawings and maps into vector formats.
• Bluebeam: Bluebeam provides PDF markup, viewing, and collaboration tools for the AEC industry, including redlining on scanned drawings. Its viewing/annotation capabilities overlap with VPview, and its AEC focus is comparable to Softelec's building/construction segment.
• WinTopo: WinTopo provides raster-to-vector and raster editing tools for topographic, GIS, and engineering applications. It targets a similar user base of GIS and CAD professionals needing scanned map and drawing conversion, competing with VPmap Series and VPHybridCAD.
• ACD Systems (Canvas X / ACDSee): ACD Systems' Canvas product line includes raster editing and raster-to-vector conversion capabilities for technical illustrations and engineering graphics. It overlaps with VPHybridCAD in CAD raster editing workflows for technical documentation.
• RasterVect: RasterVect offers raster-to-vector conversion software specifically for scanned drawings, plans, and technical documentation. It serves engineering and architectural use cases similar to Softelec's VPHybridCAD/VPraster products.
• Scan2CAD: Scan2CAD is a direct raster-to-vector conversion software competitor, focused on converting scanned drawings, PDFs, and CAD images into editable vector files. It competes head-to-head with VPHybridCAD and VPraster pro in the same CAD user segment with similar OCR and vectorization functionality.

Others

• Esri: Esri is the dominant GIS platform (ArcGIS) and a strategic Softelec partner. VPmap Series exports vectorized data to Shapefile and MIF for ArcGIS workflows; while not a direct product competitor, Esri shapes the GIS data standards Softelec's mapping product must support.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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 Softelec