Dassault Systemes (DS), a provider of 3D and product lifecycle management (PLM) offerings, said that it has acquired French firm Exalead, a provider of search platforms and search-based applications (SBA) for consumer and business users, for about €135m.
Over 100 million people use Exalead for information search, access and reporting, including people in companies such as Friendster, Lagardere Active and ViaMichelin for contextual consumer search.
Exalead’s CloudView platform collects data from virtually any source, in any format, and transforms it into structured, pervasive, contextualised building blocks of business information that can be directly searched and queried, or used as the foundation for a new information access applications.
Bernard Charles, president and CEO of Dassault Systemes, said: “The world of innovation is everywhere and information intensive. Everyone is looking for simplicity with intuitive applications (‘life-like’) which value the rich information available inside and outside companies. With Exalead and its partners, we can provide a new class of search-based applications for collaborative communities.”
“I would like to salute the critical role Qualis played in assembling such a great team with deep scientific skills, giving it the means to develop into a true leader in search technology and applications, and deciding to hand it to us to further its development on a worldwide level.”
