Start-up capital has been a pain point—and roadblock—for many brilliant ideas that never end up seeing the light of day. Considering how costly software tools alone can be, it’s no surprise that some innovators refrain from moving forward at all knowing what they’re up against before even having a prototype in hand.
Both Siemens and design collaboration platform Launch Forth know CAD creators can’t live up to their full potential when their tools aren’t up to par, so they decided to provide an exclusive version of Siemens Solid Edge software to 185,000 Launch Forth members. Seeing as the SaaS (software as a service) platform’s goal is to harness crowdsourcing and co-creation to bring out innovative products by way of collaboration, the two companies want to give members the tools and tutoring they need to do just this.
For those unfamiliar, Solid Edge contains a sleuth of software tools which aid in all parts of product development, including 3D design, simulation, data management, and manufacturing. Launch Forth, a byproduct of Local Motors, aims to change the way people develop products in every industry by harnessing the world’s largest online community of designers, engineers, and technologists.
The exclusive software for Launch Forth, aptly titled the “Launch Forth Community Edition”, will have all the features of the standard Solid Edge software, but, like student editions of various software packages, will include a branded watermark on any 2D exported files. That said, the Community Edition has no expiration date and comes with unlimited usage for all existing Launch Forth community members and upcoming members starting July 1, 2018.
Membership at Launch Forth is also totally free, so there doesn’t seem to be any reason innovators shouldn’t take advantage of this. Sign up here.
