# Windward Studios

> Windward Studios is a Boulder, Colorado software company that builds document automation and generation technology. Its engine lets developers and business teams design templates directly inside Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, then merge them with data from 140-plus sources to produce pixel-perfect documents in 18 output formats - with roughly 11 lines of code. Founded in 1996 as a video game studio behind the real-time strategy title Enemy Nations, the company pivoted to reporting software in 2003 and grew into a docgen leader used by more than 2,000 organizations generating over 10 million documents a month. In April 2021 it was acquired by PDFTron (now Apryse), and its flagship Windward Core product was later rebranded Fluent by Apryse.

- **Founded:** 1996
- **Headquarters:** Boulder, Colorado, USA
- **Founders:** David Thielen (Co-founder, President & CEO), Shirley Thielen (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** Estimated 50-100 employees prior to acquisition
- **Products:** Enemy Nations, Windward Reports, Windward Designer / AutoTag, Windward Core (now Fluent by Apryse), Windward Hub
- **Notable:** Grew from a failed indie game studio into a document automation leader used in 70+ countries, Powers 10+ million documents generated per month for 2,000+ organizations, Enemy Nations praised in video game magazines; released as freeware with open source in 2005

## Products & services

- **Enemy Nations** — The company's first product - a real-time strategy video game that received strong reviews; later released as freeware with public source code.
- **Windward Reports** — Enterprise reporting and document generation suite with .NET and Java engines, positioned against Crystal Reports and Pentaho.
- **Windward Designer / AutoTag** — Template design tool that runs inside Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, letting non-developers insert data tags with wizards.
- **Windward Core (now Fluent by Apryse)** — Low-code embedded docgen engine - integrate in roughly 11 lines of code, connect 140+ data sources, output 18 formats including DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, PDF and HTML.
- **Windward Hub** — No-code configuration tool for enterprise document automation workflows with pre-built Salesforce and HubSpot integrations.

## Achievements

- Grew from a failed indie game studio into a document automation leader used in 70+ countries
- Powers 10+ million documents generated per month for 2,000+ organizations
- Enemy Nations praised in video game magazines; released as freeware with open source in 2005
- Acquired by PDFTron (Apryse) in April 2021
- Windward Core rebranded and carried forward as Fluent by Apryse
- Sponsored the international Code Wars student hackathon for over a decade

## Latest updates

- **2021-04** — PDFTron (now Apryse) acquires Windward Studios in its fifth acquisition following a $71M growth investment.
- **2023-01** — Windward Core rebranded as Fluent by Apryse and folded into the Apryse document platform.

## Links

- Website: https://www.windwardstudios.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/windward-reports-docgen-&-bi
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/windwardstudios
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WindwardStudios/featured
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/windwardstudios/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/windward-studios
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-08