Odoo Hits €7B Valuation After General Atlantic Stake Boost
▼ Summary
– General Atlantic has increased its stake in Odoo through a secondary share purchase, raising the Belgian software company’s valuation to approximately €7 billion.
– Odoo provides an integrated suite of business applications for SMEs and operates on an open-core model, supporting a vast ecosystem of nearly 40,000 add-on extensions.
– The company has a significant global presence with over 170,000 paying customers across about 180 countries, which has driven its steady revenue growth.
– Odoo’s product evolution now includes AI and automation features, making its unified platform more attractive for businesses replacing older, fragmented systems.
– This transaction exemplifies a European tech trend where founders use secondary deals to let early investors exit while retaining control, enabling companies to stay private and build long-term value.
The Belgian business software firm Odoo has achieved a significant valuation milestone, reaching approximately €7 billion following a strategic secondary transaction by growth investor General Atlantic. This move involved General Atlantic purchasing additional existing shares from the regional investment entity Wallonie Entreprendre, solidifying its stake in the company. This transaction underscores the robust confidence in Odoo’s business model and its sustained growth trajectory, rather than representing a new capital raise for the company.
This type of deal is known as a secondary transaction, where shares change hands between investors without new money entering the company. In this case, Wallonie Entreprendre, the investment arm of Belgium’s Walloon region, sold a portion of its holding to General Atlantic. Following the completion of the deal, Wallonie Entreprendre retains an ownership stake of about three percent. Odoo, originally founded in Belgium in 2002, has evolved from a modest project into a comprehensive global platform providing an integrated suite of business applications. Its software is widely used by small and medium-sized enterprises to manage critical operations spanning finance, sales, human resources, and marketing.
A cornerstone of Odoo’s success is its open-core model, which fosters a vibrant global developer community. This approach has led to the creation of an extensive ecosystem featuring nearly 40,000 add-on applications and extensions that enhance the platform’s core functionality. The company now serves a substantial base of over 170,000 paying customers across roughly 180 countries. This impressive global footprint and the consistent revenue growth it generates were key factors in General Atlantic’s decision to increase its investment.
General Atlantic first became an investor in Odoo in 2023 and has since played an active role in supporting the company’s expansion into new international markets and refining its commercial strategies. The platform continues to evolve, with recent software versions incorporating AI-powered features and automation tools. These advancements make the suite increasingly attractive to businesses aiming to replace disconnected, legacy systems with a single, unified digital platform for all their operational needs.
This development also reflects a broader trend within the European technology sector regarding company growth and capital strategies. Rather than pursuing rapid initial public offerings or quick exits, some founders and companies are opting for secondary share deals. This path allows early-stage investors to realize returns on their investments while enabling the company’s leadership to maintain strategic control. It can facilitate a longer period as a private company, focusing on building fundamental value over an extended timeline.
Belgium has emerged as a noteworthy, if understated, environment for cultivating software businesses with international scale. Odoo stands as a premier example of this success, demonstrating how a powerful combination of product focus, community-driven development, and global market penetration can attract substantial backing from major growth investors like General Atlantic.
(Source: The Next Web)
