What happens after Year 1 of SOLIDWORKS for Startups?

A startup can spend its free year in two very different ways. One team installs every available role, creates files in several places, and waits for the renewal notice to decide what matters. Another team names an owner, controls product data, tracks actual use, and asks for the next commercial configuration months before the term ends.

The second team does not need a perfect forecast. It needs enough evidence to avoid paying for unused capability, losing access unexpectedly, or discovering too late that a critical supplier or data workflow depends on a product that was never included in the renewal plan.

The published three-year path

The discount is only half of the budget question. The other half is the configuration against which it is applied. A 70% discount on a focused set of roles is different from a 70% discount on every tool the team tried during the free year.

Record the approved baseline in month one

Save the acceptance notice and write down the approved products or roles, quantities, term dates, region, administrative contacts, support route, and any exception language. If Desktop Term licenses were approved by exception, record that too.

This sounds administrative, but it prevents a common planning failure. A founder remembers “three years of startup access” while the actual approval contains a specific first-year term, product mix, and renewal path. The document, not the memory, should guide the plan.

Measure workflows, not login counts

An active user count cannot explain whether a role is essential. Track the work the product enabled and what would break without it. Useful evidence includes:

• assemblies and drawings released through the system;
• simulation decisions that changed geometry or test scope;
• supplier packages issued from controlled revisions;
• review cycles completed without duplicate files;
• manufacturing data or documentation produced for a prototype or launch.

A role opened twice may still be critical if it completed the only flow analysis required before tooling. A role opened every day may be replaceable if the team used it out of habit rather than need. Renewal decisions need context.

Build a minimum viable commercial configuration

Separate the approved package into three groups: required for current production work, likely required for the next twelve months, and experimental. Then map each item to an owner and an output.

Required items should have a clear consequence if removed. Likely items should connect to a funded product milestone or staffing plan. Experimental items need a decision date. This prevents the free-year package from becoming the default commercial quote without review.

Forecast the discount without inventing a price

The public program percentages are not a public quote. Product configuration, quantities, term structure, commercial prices, and regional conditions determine the actual amount.

A planning model can still be useful. Once the reseller provides the applicable commercial value for the proposed year-two configuration, a published 70% discount means the startup pays 30% of that applicable basis. A published 50% discount means it pays 50% in year three. Do not multiply those percentages by a search result, an old perpetual-license price, or the value of the entire free package.

Protect the product data before the term changes

Assign an administrator and a product-data owner. Document where native files, released drawings, neutral exports, simulation results, manufacturing packages, and decision records live. Define who can export or archive data and which suppliers depend on ongoing access.

This is not a reason to avoid a platform. It is basic continuity planning for any engineering system. Local files can be lost or duplicated. Cloud data can be poorly governed or tied to roles the company later changes. The control is the same: ownership, release rules, backups or exports where applicable, and a written offboarding process.

Do not plan on reapplying

The official FAQ says startup reapplications are not accepted. It also notes that short extensions may be available in some cases. An exception is not a funding plan. Build the operating and commercial transition around the approved term and treat any extension as a separate decision from the program team.

A practical renewal conversation

By month seven, the team should be able to answer five questions:

1. Which roles or products are essential to the next funded product milestone?
2. How many people need each capability, and which needs overlap?
3. Which data, supplier, or integration dependencies must continue?
4. What does the written approval say about term and regional conditions?
5. What configuration and commercial basis will the year-two discount use?

That conversation produces a controlled transition. Waiting for the last month produces a procurement event under time pressure.

Frequently asked questions

Continue the startup planning sequence

Application preparation

SOLIDWORKS startup eligibility checklist

Check the six public eligibility gates before the company submits an application.

Review the checklist → Platform decision

Desktop SOLIDWORKS or 3DEXPERIENCE?

Turn data, connectivity, collaboration, and supplier requirements into a role request.

Compare the workflows →