Autodesk acquires Instructables

Design Software Giant in Consumer Marketing Push

Autodesk, (San Rafael, CA, USA) , has just made a small but interesting purchase. It has acquired Instructables ( San Francisco, CA, USA) community site for DIY enthusiasts. Instructables started almost six years ago by Squid Labs co-founder Eric Wilhelm.

Instructables is home to more than 55,000 how-to articles contributed by more than 20,000 volunteer authors, on everything from electric cars to cookie recipes. Turns out Autodesk plans to build up the profile of its consumer group, and they’ve been looking for a company that knows how to create online communities to jumpstart the outreach effort. “They want to build tools and services for creative folks as well as design professionals,” Wilhelm says. “They are realizing the power of really engaged communities around services and products, and we are going to help them build those communities.”

Autodesk is a provider of 3D design, graphics, and engineering software, which is used by more than 10 million design professionals around the world.

Source: Xconomy