BERLIN, Germany, Dec 2, 2020 – Graebert GmbH, a pioneer in developing high-performance CAD solutions across desktop, mobile and cloud, announced the release by Graebert India of IIACAD.

User interface of IIACAD

IIACAD was announced to the 20,000 members of the Indian Institute of Architects during an online event that took place on August 15 2020, when India was celebrating its Independence Day.

While opening this event, Ar. Lalichan Zacharias, Honorary Secretary of the IIA National Committee, declared: “​India is celebrating its 74th Independence Day today. Today, through this Aazadi event, the members of the Indian Institute of Architects also celebrate its independence from the dependency for its basic drawing software or from multinational software companies. In a few days from now, our systems will have the branded system of IIA, named IIACAD, for fulfilling our basic drawing requirements. It is a proud moment for all members of IIA, which gives a great feeling of self-reliance.”​

The IIACAD partnership agreement was signed by and between the IIA and Graebert India, to include local support and development by Graebert’s Research & Development Center in India. The IIACAD software will be distributed by Graebert India under the IIACAD brand licensed from the IIA.

The release of IIACAD results also from a close collaboration with the IIA members as Ar. Zacharias further explained: “​The software has been tested by 15 eminent architects in the country and the feedback was very encouraging. The software was modified again incorporating all the suggestions from the Beta testers and the final product stands to all. And we can proudly say it is one of the best software available in this sector. The IIA Council feels happy and proud to bring out the software branded and tested to its membership, in a very affordable cost. The license of it is Perpetual.”​

Wilfried Graebert, CEO and founder of Graebert commented: “​Over the last months, we have seen a growing number of architects, from all over the World, sharing publicly their concerns, because of the behavior and products of Autodesk. I am very grateful for the collaboration between the IIA and Graebert India. I trust that Institutes of Architects from other countries, as well as other professional organizations will like to follow a similar approach. Graebert will be there to support them.”​

The Indian Institute of Architects is one of the most prominent in the World with more than 20,000 members. IIACAD will benefit from all the 2D and 3D CAD features available in ARES Commander for Windows and macOS. This includes the new features for BIM drawings enabling to import RVT or IFC files and extract 2D drawings in DWG format from the BIM models. Yet, the IIACAD software will be exclusively sold to IIA members in India.

Besides the features, the motivations of the Indian Institute of Architects to work with Graebert India were also to build a closer and better relationship. Ar. Zacharias further commented during the Aazadi event in August: “Members that are going to use this CAD can feel proud and confident, and rest assured that no one will harass you in the name of software audit any longer. No one will send you threatening emails and ask you to buy packs of five, ten, fifteen software within 24 hours. The members of IIA here after need not depend on those subscribe software which are unimaginably overpriced and unaffordable. That is why we call the event Aazadi: independence of the members of IIA in the software sector.

The partnership signed between the IIA and Graebert India includes also the release of an Educational version to be used by all the IIA affiliated colleges and their students.

Mr Rajesh Garg, managing director of Graebert India commented: “​Graebert India is very proud of the collaboration with the Indian Institute of Architects. I trust that this partnership will become a milestone in the productivity of Indian Architects. With IIACAD we will be providing an affordable and modern CAD solution, enabling architects to concentrate on CAD quality output without any fear of audits and expensive recurring fees.”​

About Graebert

Graebert is a leading developer of DWG-editing CAD software headquartered in Germany with additional offices in Japan, India, and Russia. Graebert was founded in 1977 and has ever since pioneered multiple innovations in the CAD industry, including the first solution to run on Windows, macOS and Linux, the first mobile CAD solutions and more recently its cloud version ARES Kudo.

The Graebert product portfolio is anchored by the ARES Trinity of CAD software – a powerful suite of 2D & 3D CAD software for desktop, mobile and cloud. Graebert’s CAD software specialises in the production of technical drawings in DWG format.

These solutions are sold both directly to end customers under the brand ARES, or indirectly, as a development platform that other developers use to build their own solutions. Altogether, Graebert has the second largest installed base (after AutoCAD only) with millions of professional users and year-over-year revenue growth in 2019 of 30%.

For more information, visit www.graebert.com.