Alludo
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Predecessor | Corel Corporation |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder | Michael Cowpland |
| Headquarters | Ottawa , Canada |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Christa Quarles (CEO), Prashant Ketkar (Chief Technology and Product Officer) |
| Products | CorelDRAW, AfterShot Pro, PaintShop Pro, Painter, Video Studio, WordPerfect, CorelCAD, Corel Chess, Corel Designer, Corel Digital Studio, Corel Graphics Suite, Corel Home Office, Corel KnockOut, Corel Paint It! Touch, Corel Photo Album, Corel Photo-Paint, Corel SnapFire, Corel Ventura, Avid Studio (Pinnacle Studio), Bryce (sold), ClearSlide, Click and Create, AfterShot Pro, Gravit Designer, MindJet MindManager, MotionStudio 3D, PaintShop Pro, Paradox, Parallels, Quattro Pro, Reviversoft, Simplestar, VideoStudio, WinDVD, WinZip, WordPerfect, XMetaL |
| Owner | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) |
| Parent | Cascade Parent Limited |
| Website | www |
Cascade Parent Limited, operating under the trade name Alludo (pronounced ə-LOO-doh), is a software enterprise based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with a focus on graphics processing technologies. Previously identified as Corel Corporation—an acronym derived from "Cowpland Research Laboratory"—the firm is well known for its suite of software including CorelDRAW, AfterShot Pro, PaintShop Pro, Painter, Video Studio, and WordPerfect.
History
Established in 1985 by Michael Cowpland, who formerly served as CEO of Mitel, Corel originally created writing and creative design tools intended to complement Mitel’s product offerings. The company rose to prominence during the technology surge of the 1990s through its flagship product CorelDRAW and briefly held the title of Canada’s largest software company. In 1996, Corel expanded its portfolio by acquiring Novell's WordPerfect, positioning itself as a competitor to Microsoft Office despite Microsoft's widespread pre-installation dominance.
Between February 1996 and January 2006, Corel secured the naming rights for the NHL Ottawa Senators’ arena, which was then called the "Corel Centre."
In 1997, Corel sold its multimedia division to Hoffmann + Associates but retained royalty rights and a minority interest. After insider trading allegations surfaced against Cowpland in 2000, he exited the company. New management initially planned to segment brands but ultimately consolidated all products under the Corel name. The acquisition of Micrografx took place in 2001.
In August 2003, Vector Capital, a private equity firm, purchased Corel at $1.05 per share, resulting in the company’s removal from NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange amid shareholder conflicts.
By 2005, WordPerfect was reported to have a worldwide user base of 20 million and was adding 4 million new users annually through bundling agreements with Dell. On April 26, 2006, Corel re-entered public markets via an IPO on NASDAQ and simultaneously acquired WinZip.
Later that same year, Corel completed purchases of InterVideo for approximately $196 million and Ulead. CEO David Dobson left in 2008 and was replaced by Kris Hagerman in 2009. That year also saw Vector Capital assume full ownership, returning Corel to private status under Corel Holdings.
Corel continued expanding through acquisitions including Roxio (2012), Pinnacle Systems (2012), Mindjet’s MindManager (2016), Gravit GmbH (2018), and Parallels (2018).
Starting in 2010, the company underwent several reorganizations beginning with relocating finance functions to Taipei. This restructuring led to workforce reductions at its Ottawa headquarters and later at the Taipei engineering center responsible for PaintShop Pro and VideoStudio development. These changes increased reliance on outsourcing to optimize development costs. Leadership transitions persisted with Patrick Nichols appointed CEO in early 2015.
In July 2019, private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) acquired Corel for about $1 billion. Christa Quarles was appointed CEO in September 2020, followed by Prashant Ketkar joining as Chief Technology and Product Officer in 2021.
In September 2022, Corel adopted the new brand name Alludo as part of a strategic repositioning while continuing to market its well-known product lines under their existing titles.
Products
- CorelCAD – software for 2D and 3D computer-aided design and drafting.
- Corel Chess – chess engine created by Don Dailey and Larry Kaufman.
- Corel Designer – professional technical illustration application, previously known as Micrografx Designer.
- Corel Digital Studio – a collection of tools including PaintShop Photo Express (a simplified version of Paint Shop Pro), VideoStudio Express (for video editing), DVD Factory (for DVD burning and conversion), and WinDVD (DVD playback software).
- CorelDRAW – editor for vector graphics.
- Corel Graphics Suite – integrates CorelDRAW, PhotoPaint, and Capture into one package.
- Corel Home Office – office software suite based on Ability Office 5, bundled with Corel’s WinZip; does not support Corel's WordPerfect file formats.
- Corel KnockOut – advanced image masking plugin for professional use.
- Corel Linux (discontinued) – an early graphical Linux distribution featuring automatic installation, released in 1999.
- Corel Paint It! Touch – painting and drawing program designed specifically for touchscreen PCs running Windows 8.
- Corel Painter – digital art software simulating natural media, formerly known as Fractal Painter.
- Corel Photo Album – software for organizing digital photos, obtained through the acquisition of Jasc Software.
- Corel Photo-Paint – bitmap graphics editor similar to Adobe Photoshop, included within the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.
- Corel SnapFire – digital photo management software that competed with Google’s Picasa, later renamed Corel MediaOne.
- Corel Ventura – desktop publishing tool with a dedicated MS-DOS user base; briefly reintroduced in 2002.
Acquired products
- Avid Studio – video and audio editing software focused on production workflows, rebranded as Pinnacle Studio in 2012.
- Bryce – 3D landscape modeling software sold to DAZ Productions in 2004.
- ClearSlide – platform providing sales enablement and engagement solutions.
- Click and Create – game development tool originally by Clickteam, also marketed as The Games Factory. Its successor, Click and Create 2, was sold to IMSI and released as Multimedia Fusion.
- AfterShot Pro – photo management application derived from Bibble, acquired alongside Bibble Labs in 2012.
- Gravit Designer – cross-platform vector graphic design software purchased from Gravit GmbH in 2018.
- MindJet MindManager – mind mapping software developed by Mindjet, acquired by Corel in August 2016.
- MotionStudio 3D – software for creating 3D text and animations, originally developed by Ulead Systems and rebranded after acquisition by Corel.
- PaintShop Pro – affordable bitmap graphics editor obtained through the Jasc Software acquisition in 2004.
- Paradox – relational database system from Borland, included with WordPerfect Office Professional Edition.
- Parallels – virtualization solutions including Parallels Desktop for Mac and Parallels RAS.
- Quattro Pro – spreadsheet program acquired from Borland, part of WordPerfect Office suite.
- Reviversoft – company specializing in computer optimization software, acquired by Corel in 2014.
- Simplestar – American firm providing computer optimization tools.
- VideoStudio – digital video editing software originally created by Ulead Systems, rebranded following Corel's acquisition.
- WinDVD – multimedia player for video and music, acquired through the purchase of InterVideo in 2006.
- WinZip – file compression and archiving utility acquired in 2006.
- WordPerfect – word processing application obtained from Novell; originally developed by WordPerfect Corporation.
- XMetaL – XML editor purchased along with SoftQuad in 2001 and later sold to Blast Radius in 2004.
Corel World Design Contest
From 1990 through 1998, the Corel World Design Contest was held annually, celebrating a global network of graphic designers drawn from more than 50 million Corel users worldwide. Each year, two winners from each of the eight distinct categories earned an invitation to Ottawa to attend the awards gala, where they were honored with the prestigious "Corel Crystal Award." The selected artworks were subsequently showcased in the "Corel Artshow" catalogue, accompanied by a CD compilation. In 2009, the contest was reinstated to commemorate the 20th anniversary of CorelDRAW and has since been conducted every two years. The editions held in 2013 and 2015 offered prize funds amounting to US$100,000 each.