Onshape adds on Graebert’s new cloud-based CAD technology for drafting

Graebert GmbH and Onshape have signed a long-term licensing agreement to integrate Graebert’s Xenon cloud-based CAD technology into Onshape via the OnShape’s API.  

Berlin-based CAD tool developers Graebert has teamed with Onshape of Cambridge, MA to add drafting capabilities to Onshape’s cloud-based modeling technology. Onshape has licensed Graebert’s Xenon technology. As a result of the deal, Onshape users will be able to to create 2D drawings directly in Onshape for no additional cost.

graebertThe Onshape Drawings module is still under development.

Robert Graebert said his company has been developing their Xenon technology to enable cloud-based 2D drawings for 3D models and CAD for the past three years and that Onshape is Graebert’s first customer for the technology. Xenon is available for other companies to license for their Cloud-based CAD applications.

Likewise, Onshape’s Joe Dunne says his company sees Onshape as a platform for additional capabilities, including specialized plug-ins that may be offered through an app store. Onshape offers an API for developers who want to partner with the company and develop for the platform.

“Graebert GmbH is renowned throughout the CAD industry as a world-leading technology partner for CAD on desktop, mobile, and now Cloud,” said Onshape founder and CEO Jon Hirschtick in a prepared statement. “We are very excited by our new partnership and have also selected Graebert to be one of the very first of our technology partners invited to use the new Onshape API and to present with us here at COFES. This is a huge win for our customers, and proof that the future of CAD is in the Cloud.”

Graebert is best known for its development of 2D and 3D CAD technology as a platform for desktop CAD applications. The company offers its own branded tools as Ares Commander and licenses its technology to other companies. For now, Graebert CTO Robert Graebert says his company is concentrating on offering Xenon as a licensable technology to other companies rather than building their own branded product. “We have found that partnering with other companies works very well for us,” he said in a phone call announcing the new technology. The company says they have more than 7 million users through their OEM partnerships with companies including Corel, Dassault and ESRI as well as direct sales of Ares Commander. Wilfried Graebert, founder and CEO said in a prepared statement “Graebert GmbH is very proud of the successful OEM relationships – at the highest levels – that our company has formed over the last decade. All of these companies represent long-established partnerships and we are very excited to further expand these existing collaborations now and in the future.” He is looking forward to working with other developers to implement the Xenon technology platform.