What Simvia does

Simvia SAS is a French private company headquartered in Palaiseau (7 boulevard Gaspard Monge) that provides commercial services around the open-source numerical simulation software portfolio originally developed by EDF R&D. The firm's product surface comprises four flagship codes distributed free of charge under GPL/LGPL licenses: code_aster (finite-element structural and thermomechanical solver), code_saturne (finite-volume CFD solver based on Navier-Stokes with RANS/LES/hybrid turbulence modeling), openTELEMAC (environmental hydraulics with sediment, wave, and water-quality modules), and Salomé (pre/post-processing platform for geometry, meshing, and visualization, co-developed with CEA). Simvia is positioned as the official commercial publisher of these codes, monetizing the open-source distribution through a services-led model rather than software licensing.

The company generates revenue from four streams: (1) professional services and custom software projects billed at €750–€1,500 per engineer-day for migration, integration, and algorithm development; (2) SimulOPS tiered annual technical-support subscriptions ranging from €3,000 (Starter) to €12,000 (Architect), with add-ons for premium SLAs and extended user packs; (3) training programs priced at €800–€1,800 per trainee, delivered at EDF Lab Paris-Saclay or on-site; and (4) Cloud & HPC deployment services including Slurm orchestration, Docker environments, and CI/CD integration. Go-to-market combines a sales-led motion (direct engagement, "Book a meeting" CTAs, named-account field sales) with a community-led motion (annual user days, YouTube tutorials, GitHub presence, public benchmark publications).

Simvia serves industrial engineering and manufacturing customers in nuclear, energy, aerospace, construction materials, and civil engineering — with named enterprise clients including Holcim, Framatome, Airbus, Orano, Vattenfall, and Thyssenkrupp — alongside mid-market engineering consultancies and academic research institutions. The firm is privately held with €500,000 share capital, no disclosed external funding, and a disclosed technical team of at least five PhD-level specialists in computational mechanics, fluid mechanics, theoretical physics, and nuclear structural analysis.

Name

Simvia

Legal name

SIMVIA

Website

https://simvia.tech

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Simvia is a French private company that provides commercial services — training, tiered technical support, consulting, and cloud/HPC deployment — around EDF R&D's open-source numerical simulation codes (code_aster, code_saturne, openTELEMAC, Salomé) for industrial engineering, nuclear, energy, aerospace, and civil-infrastructure customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Palaiseau

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

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. Professional Services (Consulting & Projects): Custom software projects including migration from proprietary solutions, integration of EDF codes into business tools, and development of additional algorithms. Billed at daily rates ranging from €750 (junior engineer) to €1,500 (lead/director) for technical and consulting work. This is a primary revenue driver.
2. Technical Support Subscriptions (SimulOPS): Annual subscription plans for technical support: SimulOPS Starter at €3,000/year, SimulOPS Integrator at €6,000/year, SimulOPS Creator at €9,000/year, and SimulOPS Architect at €12,000/year. Add-ons available for premium SLAs and extended user packs. Provides recurring revenue.
3. Training Programs: Inter-company and intra-company training programs on open-source simulation codes. Inter-company pricing: €1,800 per trainee for enterprise, €800 for academic. Intra-company training offered for groups of 4+ people. Revenue recognized per training session delivered.
4. Open-Source Software Distribution: The core software (code_aster, code_saturne, openTELEMAC, Salomé) is distributed free of charge under open-source licenses (GPL/LGPL). Revenue is not generated from software licensing but from the surrounding services ecosystem (support, training, consulting, cloud deployment).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Simvia is the official publisher of EDF R&D's open-source numerical simulation software portfolio, distributing four flagship codes — code_aster (structural and thermomechanical FEA solver), code_saturne (CFD solver), openTELEMAC (environmental hydraulics solver), and Salomé (pre/post-processing platform) — under open-source licenses. The company monetizes this free software through a surrounding professional services ecosystem, including training programs, tiered technical support subscriptions (SimulOPS), custom software/engineering projects, and cloud/HPC deployment services for engineering teams in industrial sectors.

Product overview

Simvia is a commercial services company that distributes and supports EDF R&D's open-source numerical simulation software portfolio. The core offering consists of four open-source codes: code_aster (finite element structural/thermo-mechanical solver), code_saturne (computational fluid dynamics solver), Salomé (pre/post-processing platform for geometry, meshing, and visualization), and openTELEMAC (environmental hydraulics solver for free-surface flows). These four software products are offered as a complementary suite where Salomé serves as the pre/post-processing interface for code_aster and code_saturne, while openTELEMAC addresses separate hydraulics use cases. Simvia wraps these open-source tools with professional services including training, tiered technical support (SimulOPS plans), custom software projects, and cloud/HPC implementation support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• code_aster Finite element solver for structural and thermo-mechanical analysis, enabling simulation of stresses, strains, displacements, and thermal expansion in solid structures under complex loading conditions. Distributed under open-source license; targeted at engineering teams in nuclear, civil, aerospace, and structural engineering.
• code_saturne Computational fluid dynamics solver developed by EDF for simulating turbulent flows, heat transfer, combustion, and pollutant dispersion in complex geometries across the energy and engineering sectors. Supports RANS, LES, and hybrid RANS-LES turbulence modeling with MPI parallelization for HPC.
• Salomé Open-source pre- and post-processing platform co-developed by EDF and CEA providing unified geometry creation, CAD import, mesh generation, solver configuration, and result visualization, designed to interface with code_aster and code_saturne. Includes Python scripting interface for automation.
• openTELEMAC Environmental hydraulics simulation software for free-surface flows, covering river floods, marine submersions, sediment transport, wave propagation, and water quality modeling at kilometer-scale domains spanning multi-year time scales. Specialized modules include GAIA (sediment), KHIONE (ice), TOMAWAC/ARTEMIS (waves), and WAQTEL (water quality).
• Training Programs Training programs on code_aster, code_saturne, openTELEMAC, and Salomé, available inter-company (public enrollment) and intra-company (private group sessions of 4+). Inter-company pricing: €1,800/trainee enterprise, €800/trainee academic.
• SimulOPS Technical Support Subscription Annual technical support subscription covering installation, environment troubleshooting, debugging of existing models, performance optimization, new model guidance, technology roadmap definition, and HPC advisory. Includes add-ons for premium SLAs and extended user packs.
• Software Projects (Consulting & Engineering) Custom software and engineering services including migration from proprietary simulation solutions, integration of code_aster/code_saturne/openTELEMAC into customer business tools, and development of additional algorithms integrable into solvers. Billed at indicative daily rates ranging from €750 (junior engineer) to €1,500 (lead/director).
• Cloud & HPC Deployment Services End-to-end cloud and HPC deployment services including evaluation workshops, technical proofs of concept, installation of open-source simulation tools with Slurm job orchestration, VSCode remote access, Dockerized environments, API/automation workshops, and CI/CD integration for simulation pipelines.

Quantifiable outcome

• FORT Polska reports saving nearly 30% of analysis time using code_aster and SALOME through process automation and script-based compliance checking against Polish standards
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• EDF R&D (Électricité de France)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSimvia is the official publisher of EDF R&D's open-source simulation codes (code_aster, code_saturne, openTELEMAC). EDF developed these codes over decades for its own industrial use in nuclear, energy, and hydraulic engineering. Simvia provides commercial services (training, support, consulting, cloud deployment) around EDF's codes, giving EDF an indirect revenue stream and market expansion while Simvia benefits from the credibility and capability of industrial-grade, regulatorily-validated solvers.
• Major public cloud providers (unspecified)supportingTechnology or IntegrationSimvia's Cloud & HPC services include partnerships with major public cloud providers for remote calculation deployment. Simvia helps customers size and deploy open-source simulation on these cloud environments, providing sizing, installation, and optimization services.
• QarnotsupportingTechnology or IntegrationQarnot is a French cloud computing company offering HPC resources. Simvia collaborated with Qarnot and Kitware on a webinar titled 'Break down the HPC barriers with Qarnot and Kitware', demonstrating integration between Simvia's simulation expertise and Qarnot's HPC cloud infrastructure.
• Scaleway SASsupportingTechnology or IntegrationScaleway SAS provides web hosting services for simvia.tech. Listed as the hosting provider in the legal notice. Hébergeur: Scaleway SAS, 8 rue de la Ville l'Évêque, 75008 Paris, France.
• MATandSIMsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMATandSIM collaborated with Simvia on a webinar presenting an integrated platform linking mechanical testing (digital image correlation) with code_aster simulations for accelerated material model calibration. MATandSIM provides automated testing machines and DIC analysis; Simvia provides the inverse analysis and MFront integration.
• KitwaresupportingTechnology or IntegrationKitware collaborated with Simvia and Qarnot on a joint webinar about breaking down HPC barriers. Kitware is known for ParaView (post-processing visualization used extensively with Simvia's codes) and CMake/Open-source tooling.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Altair: Altair's HyperWorks suite (OptiStruct, Radioss, AcuSolve) competes across structural FEA and CFD, with a strong presence in automotive and industrial design. Targets the same engineering customers evaluating open-source vs. commercial solvers.
• ESI Group: ESI Group provides simulation software (and increasingly services) for manufacturing, materials, and virtual prototyping — particularly in automotive and aerospace. A services-heavy peer with comparable industrial customer profiles.
• ANSYS: Global market leader in commercial CAE/CFD/FEA software (Fluent, CFX, Mechanical). Competes head-to-head with Simvia's code_saturne and code_aster in the same enterprise engineering workflows across aerospace, energy, and automotive.
• OpenFOAM (OpenCFD / ESI Group): Open-source CFD solver with a parallel commercial support model from OpenCFD/ESI — the closest analogue to Simvia's open-source-plus-services approach. Both wrap community-governed solver code with paid support, training, and consulting aimed at industrial engineering teams.
• Dassault Systèmes (SIMULIA): SIMULIA brand (Abaqus, CST, PowerFLOW) is the closest enterprise competitor in structural FEA and multiphysics simulation. Targets the same regulated industrial customers Simvia serves, often through integrated PLM deals.
• Siemens Digital Industries Software (Simcenter / Star-CCM+): Simcenter and Star-CCM+ provide integrated CFD/FEA toolsets to industrial engineering teams. Competes directly with Simvia's solver portfolio, especially in automotive, aerospace, and energy verticals.
• COMSOL: COMSOL Multiphysics is a specialist multiphysics simulation platform with strong adoption in R&D and academia. Overlaps with Simvia's multiphysics coupling workflows and shares the same industrial and academic customer base.
• Hexagon (MSC Software): MSC Software (Nastran, Adams, Marc, Actran) is a long-established FEA/multiphysics vendor serving aerospace, automotive, and defense. Competes with code_aster for structural and dynamics analysis workloads in safety-critical industries.

Emerging players

• Rescale: Cloud HPC platform purpose-built for engineering simulation workloads, supporting a broad catalog of solvers including open-source codes. An emerging adjacent competitor whose cloud-native model could absorb part of Simvia's HPC deployment services value.

Regional players

• Numeca: Belgian CFD specialist (Fine/Open, FINE/Marine, HEXPRES) with deep adoption in turbomachinery, aerospace, and marine. Direct CFD peer to code_saturne, particularly in European industrial engineering teams.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/simvia-tech
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Simvia-tech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/simvia-tech

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Simvia