What ASMS does

ASMS Co., Ltd. (株式会社アスムス) is a privately held Japanese SME founded in January 2012 and headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company commercializes atomic-scale materials simulation software and services for materials-science researchers, with a customer base concentrated in Japanese universities (Osaka, Tohoku, Meiji), national research institutes (NIMS, RIKEN, RIST), and a small number of Japanese enterprises (Japan Zeon, Nihon Hifu). ASMS operates with 1-10 employees and ¥23.1 million of registered capital, and is not externally funded.

The company's core product is matelier, an atomic-scale materials simulator built around PHASE/0 — a plane-wave pseudopotential DFT first-principles band-calculation code descended from a MEXT national project led by the University of Tokyo and NIMS. The matelier ecosystem integrates PHASE/0 with complementary tools including CIAO (pseudopotential generation with virtual crystal approximation), LAMMPS (classical molecular dynamics, with ASMS-developed extensions), BoltzTraP (transport coefficients), Wannier90 (band/Wannier analysis, with custom symmetry-adapted localization), Quantum ESPRESSO, and DAKOTA (optimization/uncertainty quantification). ASMS also maintains ASMS-developed improved pseudopotentials (e.g., for tin), Vim/Emacs editor modes for PHASE/0 input files, and ML-potential capabilities via n2p2 with custom descriptors.

ASMS monetizes through multiple streams: annual matelier/PHASE/0 software licenses with support (pricing not publicly disclosed); contracted analysis services using PHASE/0, Quantum ESPRESSO, and LAMMPS; technical consulting; custom scientific-software development (including GPGPU porting and MPI parallelization); and paid training seminars (¥22,000 per hands-on session, which bundles a 3-month supported evaluation license as a trial-to-paid funnel). Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven, anchored by direct inquiry, sponsored workshops, and recurring presence at PHASE/0 Training Courses, the NIMS Nano Simulation Workshop, and the VINAS Users Conference. Geographic scope is Japan-only.

Name

ASMS

Legal name

株式会社アスムス

Website

https://asms.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ASMS is a Tokyo-based SME that develops and sells the matelier atomic-scale materials simulation platform, centered on the PHASE/0 first-principles DFT code, serving Japanese universities, national research institutes (NIMS, RIKEN), and materials R&D customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Materials Simulation Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

System-Level, Multi-Physics & Package/PCB Co-Design (EDA) (HDAHAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Foundry Platform & Design Enablement Services (PDK/DFM/Process Qualification) (HDAHACAJ)

Keywords

• Atomic-scale materials simulation
• First-principles DFT software
• Materials science consulting
• Scientific computing software
• Pseudopotential band calculation

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

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 License Sales (matelier / PHASE/0): ASMS sells and supports the commercial version of the matelier atomic-scale materials simulator, with PHASE/0 as the core module. Revenue is generated through software licensing and annual support contracts. The product runs on Windows PCs, Linux PCs, PC clusters, and supercomputers, with binary distributions provided (compilation not required for the commercial product).
2. Contracted Analysis Services (受託解析): ASMS performs materials simulation analysis on behalf of customers, delivering results in the form of reports and numerical data. Services include first-principles DFT calculations using PHASE/0, Quantum ESPRESSO, and classical molecular dynamics using LAMMPS. This addresses customers who prefer to purchase analysis results rather than software licenses.
3. Training Seminars and Workshops: ASMS organizes and hosts paid PHASE/0 hands-on evaluation seminars (priced at ¥22,000 per session in 2024, including a 3-month supported evaluation license), free introductory on-demand seminars, and co-organizes the PHASE/0 Training Course series.
4. Scientific Computing Software Development: ASMS develops custom scientific computing software, adds features to or optimizes existing programs (including open-source software), and creates custom GUIs for customers. Projects include GPGPU porting, MPI parallelization, and algorithm improvements for PHASE/0 and LAMMPS.
5. Consulting Services: Technical consulting on materials simulation, including guidance on appropriate software selection, computational methods, and computing environment choices tailored to customer objectives and budgets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

ASMS develops and commercializes matelier, an atomic-scale materials simulation platform centered on PHASE/0, a first-principles density functional theory (DFT) pseudopotential band calculation software using plane-wave basis sets. The platform integrates complementary tools including CIAO (pseudopotential creation), LAMMPS (classical molecular dynamics), BoltzTraP (transport coefficients), Wannier90, and Quantum ESPRESSO. ASMS also offers contracted simulation analysis, consulting, and custom scientific software development services to materials researchers.

Product overview

ASMS offers matelier, an atomic-scale materials simulation platform, with PHASE/0 as its core first-principles band calculation module. matelier integrates multiple simulation approaches including density functional theory (PHASE/0), classical molecular dynamics (LAMMPS), and supporting tools like CIAO for pseudopotential creation, Wannier90 for band analysis, and BoltzTraP for transport properties. The company provides comprehensive services including outsourced analysis, consulting, and custom software development, targeting materials science researchers in academia and industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• matelier: Atomic-scale materials simulator integrating first-principles band calculation software PHASE/0 and related tools for material simulation.
• PHASE/0
• CIAO

Products and services

• matelier Atomic-scale materials simulator serving as an integrated simulation environment. Provides material researchers and engineers with first-principles calculations, classical molecular dynamics, and supporting analysis tools for predicting material properties.
• PHASE/0 Plane-wave basis first-principles pseudopotential band calculation software based on density functional theory. Performs electronic state calculations from quantum mechanics without experimental parameters, supporting total energy and stable structure search, density of states and band structure, dielectric constants, spin-polarized calculations, hybrid functionals (HSE06), first-principles molecular dynamics, and Raman/XPS/EELS spectral analysis.
• CIAO Pseudopotential creation software used to generate pseudopotentials for PHASE/0. Includes virtual crystal approximation (VCA) capability enabling creation of non-integer atomic number pseudopotentials for simulating alloys and mixed-element systems that do not exist in nature.
• Outsourced Analysis Service (受託解析) Contracted materials simulation analysis service for customers who prefer to purchase computational results rather than software licenses. Delivers reports and numerical data from PHASE/0, Quantum ESPRESSO, and LAMMPS calculations covering electronic state analysis, materials exploration, structure search, and classical molecular dynamics.
• Consulting Service (コンサルティング) Expert consulting for materials simulation including model selection, computational method guidance, computing environment optimization, and large-scale supercomputer utilization support tailored to customer objectives and budgets.
• Software Development Service (プログラム開発) Custom scientific software development including code improvement, feature customization, GPGPU porting, MPI parallelization, custom GUI creation, and algorithm improvements for PHASE/0, LAMMPS, and other scientific computing programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• AlN piezoelectric strain constant d33 increased 4.3x (to 21.2 pC/N) with 62.5% Mg-Nb co-doping, matching experimental values
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PHASE System Research Association (PHASEシステム研究会)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2014The PHASE System Research Association (led by NIMS's Ohmura Takao) manages the ongoing development and maintenance of PHASE/0. ASMS participates as a commercial partner, selling and supporting the software while contributing to the consortium's development activities. This relationship is fundamental to ASMS's business, as PHASE/0 is the core product of matelier. ASMS both benefits from and contributes to the shared research infrastructure, maintaining a bidirectional co-development and commercialization relationship.
• The University of Tokyo — Institute of Engineering Innovation / NIMS (物質・材料研究機構)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 January 2012PHASE/0 originated from the MEXT 'Innovation Basic Simulation Software' research project led by the University of Tokyo's Institute of Engineering Innovation and NIMS. ASMS was founded specifically to commercialize and support the PHASE SYSTEM software. This partnership represents the foundational academic origin of ASMS's core technology, with ongoing collaborative development continuing through the PHASE System Research Association.
• HPCI (High Performance Computing Infrastructure) OfficeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerASMS participates in projects using Japanese national HPC infrastructure including the K computer, Fugaku, and Earth Simulator. PHASE/0 training materials and on-demand course videos are published through the HPCI portal, expanding reach to the national HPC user community.
• VINAS Inc. (株式会社ヴァイナス)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerVINAS co-sponsored ASMS's 'Next-Generation Materials Exploration' seminar in February 2017. VINAS also organizes the annual VINAS Users Conference, which ASMS sponsors and exhibits at. The relationship is primarily co-marketing and event collaboration.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gaussian, Inc. Commercial first-principles electronic structure calculation software widely used in academic and industrial chemistry/materials research. Comparable as a privately held, narrowly-focused commercial DFT/electronic-structure vendor serving similar R&D customers.
• Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation: Open-source first-principles DFT software suite using plane-wave basis sets and pseudopotentials. Directly comparable to PHASE/0 in underlying method (DFT/plane-wave) and target users (academic and industrial materials researchers), though free and community-driven rather than commercially licensed. ASMS already integrates Quantum ESPRESSO in its services portfolio, confirming functional overlap.
• Materials Design, Inc. Commercial distributor of VASP and developer of the MedeA materials simulation platform, providing DFT, classical MD, and mesoscale simulation tools to industrial and academic customers. Closest direct commercial peer to ASMS — same core offering (licensed first-principles software + services) for materials R&D.

Broad incumbents

• Schrödinger, Inc. Public computational chemistry and materials science software company offering physics-based simulation platforms (Jaguar, Maestro, LiveDesign) used across pharma, materials, and electronics industries. Comparable in providing commercial DFT-grade simulation software to enterprise R&D, though at substantially larger scale and broader scope.
• Dassault Systèmes BIOVIA: Enterprise materials simulation and molecular modeling suite (Materials Studio) with DFT, classical MD, and mesoscale tools targeting industrial R&D. Comparable as a commercial multi-method materials simulation platform serving similar semiconductor, ceramics, and advanced materials use cases.
• Synopsys QuantumATK: Atomistic simulation platform (QuantumATK) combining DFT with semi-empirical and classical methods, integrated into Synopsys's broader electronic design automation portfolio. Comparable as a commercial materials/atomic-scale simulation tool serving semiconductor and advanced materials engineers, with stronger ties to the IC design ecosystem.

Emerging players

• QMware: Quantum-computing-augmented chemistry and materials simulation platform combining classical DFT with quantum algorithms. Comparable as an emerging simulation technology provider for materials R&D, with overlapping scientific computing customer base.
• Exabyte Inc. Cloud-native materials simulation platform providing DFT and related methods via a managed software-as-a-service model. Comparable as a first-principles simulation provider targeting materials R&D, though differentiated by cloud delivery rather than on-premise install like matelier.

Regional players

• JSOL Corporation (J-OCTA / CUSTEM): Japanese CAE/molecular simulation software vendor offering J-OCTA multi-scale simulation platform (including CUSTEM DFT module) to industrial R&D customers in Japan. Comparable as a Japan-based commercial materials simulation vendor serving the same domestic advanced materials and manufacturing customer base.
• Hortense Co., Ltd. Japan-based developer of PHASE-related materials simulation software and co-developer of the PHASE SYSTEM. Comparable as a Japanese niche vendor operating in the same first-principles materials simulation ecosystem, with overlapping technology and customer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 ASMS