Second Impressions – CADFORCE INC.

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CADFORCE INC.


Marina del Rey – Profiled December 2006


About five months ago, James Katz and the firm he co-founded, Cadforce Inc., were in the midst of an $8 million financing round when one of the company’s directors made a fateful introduction.

Board member John Klein suggested that some Cadforce executives meet with Neilsoft Ltd., a firm based in Pune, India. Klein suggested the two companies would work well together: Cadforce outsources computer-aided design work for architecture firms; Neilsoft did roughly the same for engineering companies.

“He said, ‘It’s a strategic opportunity. Let’s set a meeting and see where it goes,'” recalled Katz.

One meeting led to another, and in October Neilsoft agreed to acquire the Marina del Rey firm for an undisclosed amount. The deal catapulted Cadforce from being a small 18-person company to part of an international firm with over 850 employees in India, Europe, China, Detroit and Chicago.

“That fact that now we’re about 900 people strong, and we have a variety of skills at our disposal, it’s really great for our people here in California,” said Katz , now vice president of corporate. Robert Vanech, another co-founder, heads sales.

Cadforce’s acquisition also accomplished one of the company’s main goals. When Cadforce was profiled by the Business Journal two years ago, its objective was to be acquired or go public within the next five years. The deal put the company ahead of that timeline. “We’re pretty pumped,” Katz said.

The merger marries two outsourcing companies that specialize in different aspects of computer-aided design. Neilsoft primarily does software customization and virtual design work for a wide variety of engineers. For instance, steel fabricators turn to Neilsoft to help them determine what size steel pieces to bring to a construction site.

Cadforce, meanwhile, works almost entirely with architects, a market Neilsoft hadn’t penetrated on the West Coast. As the Indian company looked to expand in the United States, it wanted to acquire companies that would fill out its portfolio, said Ketan Bakshi, chief executive of Neilsoft.

“We saw an opportunity and we saw a lot of talent there,” Bakshi said in a phone interview from India.

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