The origins of AVEVA start in 1967 in Cambridge, England, with the establishment of the Computer-Aided Design Centre or CADCentre as it was more commonly referred to, and later formally became. It was a government-funded research institute created by the UK Ministry of Technology, with a mission to develop computer-aided design techniques, and promote their take-up by British industry. Its first director was Arthur Llewelyn, who initially contracted out the recruitment and management of specialist staff to ICL. The centre carried out CAD research, and some of its early staff members, such as brothers Dick Newell and Martin Newell, went on to become well known in the worldwide CAD community. Dick Newell oversaw the creation of the Plant Design Management System for 3D process plant design. He later co-founded two software companies – Cambridge Interactive Systems which was known for its Medusa 2D/3DCAD system, and Smallworld with its eponymous Smallworld GIS. Martin Newell later went to the University of Utah where he did pioneering 3D solid modelling work; he was also one of the progenitors of PostScript. CADCentre became a private company in 1983, was the subject of a management buyout in 1994 under the leadership of its first managing director, Dr. Bob Bishop, and became a publicly quoted company in 1996. It changed its name to AVEVA in 2001.
Acquisitions
On 21 April 2004, the company acquired Tribon Solutions, a global supplier of Tribon, software for shipbuilding and marine design, for US$35 million. The acquisition was completed on 19 May 2004.
On 31 March 2005, the company acquired Realitywave, Inc., developers of a web collaboration and streaming platform, for £3.2 million.
On 30 March 2009, AVEVA announced the acquisition of iDesignOffice Pty Ltd, an instrumentation engineering technology company based in Melbourne, Australia, specialising in products for plant and marine industries.
On 3 June 2010, AVEVA Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned unit of AVEVA Group plc, announced the acquisition of Logimatic’s MARS business from Logimatic Holdings A/S for GBP12.8 million. This acquisition was completed on 30 June 2010, and MARS products and services were merged into AVEVA's Enterprise Solutions Group and aligned with its flagship AVEVA NET solution.
On 3 October 2011, AVEVA announced the acquisition of LFM software division of Z+F UK Limited, which allowed it to expand into the 3D data capture market.
On 23 May 2012, AVEVA announced the acquisition of the Belgium and Germany-based Bocad group of companies, a provider of building information modeling software for GBP14 million. The acquisition strengthened AVEVA's 3D structural detailing capabilities for the plant, marine and construction markets.
On 17 December 2012, AVEVA announced the acquisition of all assets relating to the advanced visualisation and simulation software of Huntsville, Alabama-based Global Majic Software, Inc.
On 5 January 2015, AVEVA announced the acquisition of Derry-based 8over8 Limited for GBP26.9 million. 8over8 provides contract risk management software - ProCon - for the oil, gas and mining, and other infrastructure industries.
Schneider Electric’s Industrial Software Business Combines with AVEVA
On 1 March 2018, AVEVA agreed to merge with France-based Schneider Electric's industrial software business. Schneider Electric became the largest shareholder with a 60% ownership interest.
Stadium
In 2019 in Houston, Texas, a new stadium bearing the company's name was inaugurated and became home of the professional rugby team the Houston SaberCats.
