Exa Corporation
Exa Corporation is a Burlington, Massachusetts-based developer of computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, best known for the PowerFLOW Lattice Boltzmann-based CFD simulation suite serving transportation & mobility and aerospace & defense engineering customers; the firm carried NASDAQ ticker EXA and is now flagged delisted.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersBurlington, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Exa Corporation does
Exa Corporation is a developer and distributor of computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. The company built and maintained the PowerFLOW suite — a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) platform based on an inherently transient, Lattice Boltzmann-based solver that performs aerodynamic, aeroacoustic, and thermal management simulations for engineering teams in the transportation/mobility and aerospace/defense sectors. The product portfolio historically included coupled extensions beyond the core CFD solver: PowerACOUSTICS for aeroacoustic noise, PowerDELTA for geometry preparation, PowerINSIGHT for automated results analysis and reporting, PowerTHERM (with PowerCOOL) for conjugate heat transfer and heat exchanger coupling, and PowerVIZ for visualization. PowerFLOW's architecture is built to run highly parallelized on HPC platforms and exploit GPU acceleration, and it is designed to eliminate manual volume and boundary layer meshing steps common in traditional CFD tools.
The company's customer base is implicitly enterprise engineering organizations in transportation & mobility and aerospace & defense — verticals where CFD simulation, qualification, and HPC compute budgets are sizeable. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed in the available source material, but the enterprise software profile, HPC-driven workflow, and 501-1000 historical employee count are consistent with seat-based enterprise licensing typical of the CAE segment. The company carried NASDAQ ticker EXA and is now flagged as delisted in firmographic data, and a Bizjournals-sourced 2024 raise of $5.5 million is the most recent capital event on record, though operating status as a standalone entity remains ambiguous in the data. Historical venture capital backing includes rounds in 1993 ($2.4M), 1996 ($5.5M syndicate including Boston Capital Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, ITOCHU Corporation, Massachusetts Capital Resource Company, and Edelson Technology Ventures), and 2004 ($6.379M led by Boston Capital Ventures). Leadership at the time of last disclosed data included Stephen Remondi (President and CEO), David Lemont (Consulting CMO), Hudong Chen (SVP and Chief Scientific Officer), Jean Paul Roux (SVP Global Aerospace and EU Operations), and James Hoch (SVP Software Development).
Exa Corporation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Exa Corporation
- Website
- https://exa.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Exa Corporation is a Burlington, Massachusetts-based developer of computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, best known for the PowerFLOW Lattice Boltzmann-based CFD simulation suite serving transportation & mobility and aerospace & defense engineering customers; the firm carried NASDAQ ticker EXA and is now flagged delisted.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Exa Corporation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Engineering Simulation Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Engineering & Simulation (CFD/FEA, Digital Twins, Model-Based Engineering) (IMAJAGAL)
Keywords
Where Exa Corporation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burlington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Exa Corporation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
Exa Corporation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Exa Corporation develops and distributes computer-aided engineering (CAE) software for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and related physics. Its flagship PowerFLOW suite uses an inherently transient Lattice Boltzmann-based solver to perform aerodynamic, aeroacoustic, and thermal management simulations for transportation, mobility, and aerospace & defense engineering customers. The company complements the core solver with coupled modules for thermal, acoustic, geometry preparation, visualization, and results analysis.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PowerFLOW
Exa Corporation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Exa Corporation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Exa Corporation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Autodesk: Autodesk's CFD products within Fusion 360 and broader design suite compete for engineering simulation budget at the SMB and conceptual design end of PowerFLOW's customer base.
- Dassault Systèmes (SIMULIA): Dassault is now the parent of PowerFLOW following the 2017 acquisition; SIMULIA's Abaqus and broader portfolio subsume Exa's CFD capability into a wider multiphysics suite serving the same automotive and aerospace customers.
Others
- Cadence Design Systems: Cadence is primarily EDA-focused but has expanded into system-level and multiphysics simulation through acquisitions (NUMUSIC-related), representing adjacent competition for engineering simulation wallet share.
Direct peers
- Siemens Digital Industries Software: Siemens' Star-CCM+ is a direct CFD competitor to PowerFLOW, particularly in automotive and turbomachinery, and is bundled within the broader Xcelerator platform much like PowerFLOW sits within 3DEXPERIENCE.
- ANSYS: ANSYS is the leading commercial CAE/CFD vendor with Fluent and CFX as direct competitors to PowerFLOW for general-purpose and transient fluid simulation in automotive and aerospace.
- Altair Engineering: Altair competes directly with AcuSolve (CFD) and broader simulation suites, overlapping with PowerFLOW in automotive aerodynamics and industrial equipment thermal management.
- Hexagon MSC Software: MSC Software's Cradle CFD and broader CAE portfolio serve automotive, aerospace, and industrial OEMs with comparable transient and thermal simulation capabilities to PowerFLOW.
Emerging players
- NUMECA International: NUMECA specializes in CFD for turbomachinery and rotating machinery — a domain overlap with PowerFLOW's transient and rotating geometry capabilities — though it remains a smaller, niche-focused vendor.
- ESI Group: ESI Group offers virtual prototyping and CFD-adjacent simulation solutions with overlapping customer bases in automotive and aerospace, similar in scale and niche focus to pre-acquisition Exa.
- COMSOL: COMSOL's multiphysics platform competes for engineering simulation budget that historically went to standalone CFD tools like PowerFLOW, particularly in academic and R&D-driven accounts.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses3 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Exa Corporation social profiles
Digital presenceExa Corporation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Exa Corporation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Exa Corporation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Exa Corporation 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 Exa Corporation
What does Exa Corporation do?
Exa Corporation develops and distributes computer-aided engineering (CAE) software for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and related physics. Its flagship PowerFLOW suite uses an inherently transient Lattice Boltzmann-based solver to perform aerodynamic, aeroacoustic, and thermal management simulations for transportation, mobility, and aerospace & defense engineering customers. The company complements the core solver with coupled modules for thermal, acoustic, geometry preparation, visualization, and results analysis.
Is Exa Corporation a public or private company?
Exa Corporation is a private company. It is currently operating.
When was Exa Corporation founded?
Exa Corporation was founded in 1991. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Exa Corporation based?
Exa Corporation is headquartered in Burlington, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Exa Corporation's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Autodesk and Dassault Systèmes (SIMULIA). Cadence Design Systems is listed as an others. Direct peers are Siemens Digital Industries Software, ANSYS, Altair Engineering and Hexagon MSC Software. Emerging players are NUMECA International, ESI Group and COMSOL.
Does Exa Corporation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Exa Corporation.
What industry is Exa Corporation in?
Exa Corporation's product category is Engineering Simulation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAJAGAL, Digital Engineering & Simulation (CFD/FEA, Digital Twins, Model-Based Engineering). Its NAICS code is 541512 and its SIC code is 7373.