Cofluent Design bought up by Intel
19/09/2011
An Atlanpolitan company based in Nantes, and the publisher of a modeling and simulation software for on-board systems, Cofluent Design has just announced that it has been bought up by the Intel Group. A look back over its development with Vincent Perrier, one of Cofluent Design's co-founders.
What is Cofluent Design's line of business?
We are software publishers. We develop and market professional modeling and simulation software for electronic systems (circuits, chip systems, distributed systems, etc.). Today there is an increasing amount of complexity, intelligence and subassemblies in a chip. What previously took the form of a card associated with electronic components is now integrated into a single chip. To create this type of electronic system, we need a large number of software programs at the various stages of the development cycle.
How did the company come about?
The technology we market was developed at Polytech Nantes in Jean-Paul Calvez’s MCSE research lab. In view of making his research work pay, he first of all published his methodology in the form of a book, and then developed the software tools. Then in 2003, we created the company with Jean-Paul Calvez and a third partner, Stéphane Leclerq.
Did you meet Jean-Paul Calvez at the Polytech?
Yes, I'm a former Polytech student, and I was taught by Jean-Paul Calvez. When I finished my diploma, I went to work in the USA, where I found Jean-Paul at the beginning of the 2000s. He had been to see my then employer to find a solution for an industrial transfer for his work. That didn't happen at that time, but when I returned to France, I made contact with him again. And that's when I began to think about starting up a company. With his agreement, I then began looking for a third partner, whom I found in Stéphane Leclerq.
What were the main stages in the development of Cofluent Design?
First of all, the creation of the company and the consequent technology transfer were very important. After that, the national company creation competition, which enabled us to receive an initial subsidy and get a foot on the ladder in 2003. Another major milestone was landing our first big customer in 2004. Last but not least, in 2007, we raised €2 million with a risk capital investor, which enabled us to speed up our development. We had already taken our first steps on the international stage – we had been international right from the start – but this enabled us to gain a firmer foothold in Europe, Japan and the USA.
Who are your main customers?
The range of our customers' business lines is very broad, and includes mobile phones, smartphones, wireless multimedia terminals, office automation (printers, scanners and the like), digital imaging (cameras, etc.), telecom equipment and automobiles.
Was being bought up by such a large-scale company as Intel a possibility you had hoped for?
From the moment we got risk capital investors on board, we knew they would want to pull out in order to recoup their investment, preferably making a profit at the same time. And for them to pull out, somebody would have to buy their share. Either we went on another round of capitalization, or we sold the company. So we knew it was a likely possibility. As to who this buyer would be, we had various ideas. In any case, we targeted some pretty big companies. And it turned out to be Intel…
Is risk capital something you can't do without?
Yes, at a given moment, if you want to go international, if you want to take on new staff, it's important. It speeds up development.
What major innovation has Cofluent Design contributed?
Today, when designing electronic systems, there are two points to consider: the design of the system itself, i.e. choosing the right components and choosing the right options. And there is also the programming of these components. As part of Intel's strategy, Cofluent takes action on both levels.
In addition, up till now, for engineers to write a software program for an electronic system, they had to wait for the component to be physically there. This long and costly process meant that the software could only be developed once the chip or component was available. What Intel and other suppliers are in the process of doing, with help from Cofluent, is to virtualize the component and make it into a software model that works on a computer, so that the engineer can write the software working on it more quickly.
The innovation contributed by Cofluent thus lies in these two aspects: facilitating the design of the electronic system, and speeding up the provision of a virtual component model.
More information:
Cofluent Design
