Dassault Systèmes

Overview
Dassault Systèmes SE is a French software company headquartered on its Paris Campus in Vélizy-Villacoublay. Founded in 1981 as a spin-off of the Dassault group, it develops software for 3D design, engineering simulation, manufacturing operations and product-lifecycle management, organised around its 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The company is listed on Euronext Paris under the ticker DSY and is a component of the CAC 40 index. It reports more than 390,000 customers of all sizes, about 25,000 employees, 188 sites and active customers in 155 countries. Pascal Daloz serves as Chief Executive Officer and, since 21 February 2026, also as Chairman of the Board. For founders, the most direct entry point is the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, the company's open innovation laboratory and startup accelerator launched in 2015.

Why this entity matters
Dassault Systèmes matters for three reasons. First, it is one of the few European-headquartered software groups operating at global scale, which makes it a reference point in any discussion of whether Europe can build and keep large technology companies. Second, its tools sit inside the engineering workflows of aerospace, automotive, industrial machinery, life sciences and consumer goods companies, so product decisions made in Vélizy reach the design offices and factories of manufacturers across Europe. Third, through the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab it gives early-stage hardware and product startups access to the same professional design and simulation software that large manufacturers use, which lowers the cost of building and testing physical products before a first funding round. For readers following deep tech and industrial technology in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the company is part of the software layer underneath much of the region's manufacturing base.

Company history and product
Dassault Systèmes was created in 1981 to develop and market the 3D surface design software that was later renamed CATIA, growing out of the aerospace industry's demand for more advanced design tools. The company listed on the Paris Bourse and Nasdaq in 1996. Bernard Charlès led the company as Chief Executive Officer from 1995 until the end of 2023, when Pascal Daloz took over on 1 January 2024. On 21 February 2026 the Board unanimously appointed Pascal Daloz Chairman as well, after Bernard Charlès stepped down as Executive Chairman and Board member for personal reasons, according to the company. Growth came partly through acquisitions, including SolidWorks (1997), Abaqus (2005), MatrixOne (2006), Accelrys (2014), CST and a majority stake in Outscale (2016), a majority stake in Centric Software (2018) and Medidata Solutions (2019, reported at USD 5.8 billion). The 3DEXPERIENCE platform launched in 2012 and now connects the brands CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, SIMULIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, BIOVIA, MEDIDATA, GEOVIA, Centric PLM, 3DEXCITE, 3DVIA, NETVIBES and OUTSCALE. The company describes its current direction as virtual twins and industrial AI. Wikipedia's summary of the 2025 Universal Registration Document gives 2025 revenue of EUR 6.24 billion; this figure is not restated on the company pages reviewed here.

Role in the startup and technology landscape of Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Dassault Systèmes is not a startup investor, but it is part of the infrastructure that hardware, deep tech and industrial startups in Germany, Austria and Switzerland build on. Engineering-heavy sectors such as automotive suppliers, machinery and aerospace rely on computer-aided design, simulation and product-lifecycle software of the kind Dassault Systèmes sells, so founders who want to sell to these manufacturers often need to work with the same file formats and toolchains. The 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, announced on 9 November 2015, was set up to support startups developing physical products that improve daily life, cities and lifestyles. According to the company, startups receive access to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, technical skills and mentoring during a one-to-two-year programme, and support from its worldwide network for launches and international expansion. The Lab page reports more than 100 startups in acceleration (directly or through incubators), more than 200 projects and events, more than 2,500 mentors and business partners and six lab locations including FabLabs; these are company figures.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Origin: spin-off of the Dassault group (1981). Leadership: Pascal Daloz (Chief Executive Officer since 2024; Chairman since February 2026); Bernard Charlès (Chief Executive Officer 1995 to 2023; Executive Chairman until February 2026); Charles Edelstenne (Honorary Chairman, per Wikipedia). Listing: Euronext Paris (DSY), CAC 40. Acquired companies (selection): SolidWorks; Abaqus; MatrixOne; Accelrys; CST; Outscale; Centric Software; Medidata Solutions. Startup programme: 3DEXPERIENCE Lab (open innovation laboratory and startup accelerator). Startuprad.io: cooperation partner, listed as 3DS Startup Program.

Startuprad.io relevance
Dassault Systèmes has cooperated with Startuprad.io. Startuprad.io lists the cooperation as the 3DS Startup Program among its selected cooperations at https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner and names Dassault Systèmes among the organisations it has worked with at https://www.startuprad.io/aboutus/recognition . The entity also links into Startuprad.io's editorial coverage of industrial and manufacturing technology, deep tech spin-offs and the question of how European technology companies reach global scale.

Dassault Systèmes appears in the following Startuprad.io editorial piece.

Startuprad.io Turns 12: What Twelve Years of Startup Conversations Taught Us
Published: 31 October 2026
Last updated: 31 October 2026
Coverage type: Anniversary feature (cooperation acknowledgement)
https://www.startuprad.io/post/startuprad-io-turns-12-what-twelve-years-of-startup-conversations-taught-us

Public source context
This profile draws on the company's own pages https://www.3ds.com/about/company and https://www.3ds.com/3dexperiencelab , the company press release on the 2026 Board change https://www.3ds.com/newsroom/press-releases/dassault-systemes-ceo-pascal-daloz-becomes-also-chairman-board-directors-dassault-systemes , the company press release announcing the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab https://www.3ds.com/newsroom/press-releases/dassault-systemes-unveils-3dexperience-lab-its-open-innovation-laboratory-and-startup-accelerator-program , the Wikipedia company article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Syst%C3%A8mes (history, acquisitions, brands and 2025 revenue as summarised from the Universal Registration Document), Startuprad.io's partner list https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner and recognition page https://www.startuprad.io/aboutus/recognition , and Startuprad.io's coverage archive listed above.

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/dassault-syst%C3%A8mes