Published : 9 years ago, on 19/11/2015

• Return to growth (+8.3%)
• Software sales up 6%
• Further industry concentration: the top 5 companies account for 53% of total sales and 68% of profits
• Stable R&D investments
• Further reduced  exposure to financialmarkets: 54 firms ranked in the Truffe 100 are publicly traded, accounting for 81.6% of total revenues
• Changes among the top 3 countries: France rises to 2^nd place, with Germany in 1^stand Netherlands in 3^rd

Truffle Capital, a major player in the European venture capital industry, releases the tenth edition of the Truffle 100, its ranking of the top 100 European software companies. The “Truffle 100 Europe” is put together in collaboration with industry analysts IDC and CXP Group, which conducted the survey used for the ranking, and Essec Business School.

Created in 2005 by TRUFFLE CAPITAL and Bernard-Louis Roques, the Truffle 100 France celebrated its 11^th birthday in April. Compiled every year by the CXP Group, it has become the main benchmark for assessing the state of the software industry in France. The Truffle 100 Europe followed in its footsteps in 2006, gaining equal recognition at the European level.

“Judging from its success, it seems that the Truffle 100 has found its place in the European software environment and contributes to its ecosystem: more than 100,000 people use this free research as a tool, a barometer and a source of data to increase their knowledge and enrich their vision of the European software market.
With €44 billion in aggregated revenues, 67,000 R&D jobs, 5.2% growth and €7 billion invested into research, the software vendors have become a major component of the European economy and the most important contributor to its innovation. As we find ourselves on the eve of major paradigm changes driven by mobility, cloud computing and new applications, these companies are going through challenging but thrilling transformations. We’re opening one of the most exiting chapters of the industry’s history and, based on its resilience and innovative agility – outlined year after year in the Truffle 100 – we remain reasonably optimistic“, commented Bernard-Louis Roques, Co-Founder and General Partner of Truffle Capital.

“In 2014, cloud computing became a significant market for many European ISVs. Many European software companies were already involved with cloud computing prior to 2014, but thanks to an increasing number of acquisitions and rising in-house R&D investments, this involvement grew significantly last year. Today, many European ISVs are hybrid businesses, combining a traditional software branch with limited growth and a smaller cloud branch with typically high growth rates. Managing this transition to cloud computing without a collapse in traditional license sales is critical to their success“, said Bo Lykkegaard (IDC).

“We have entered the digital age and there is no turning back. Although not all businesses have made the transition yet, there is now real awareness, shared by everyone, of digital considerations… To meet these potentially huge challenges, the software industry is adapting; the European Truffle listing is proof of this. The new solutions offered integrate SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud) technologies to meet the demand of business users who now require customer-oriented, web-designed tools, access to mobile applications, agile management tools, visual and easy-to-interpret dashboards, and analysis functions capable of deriving value from increasingly large and less structured sets of data. Software publishers have realised that cloud infrastructures and SaaS applications now represent the strongest market driver (with growth rates of between 30% and 40%) and are revising their business models to base their growth on recurring turnover. Finally, software vendors, integrators, service companies and cloud brokers are working to provide a high value-added, business-oriented “service” dimension which will make the difference, boost the competitiveness of businesses and accelerate their modernization”, commented Laurent Calot (CXP Group).

1-      Reminder from 2013:

 For 2013, the Truffle 100 Europe had emphasized the economic turbulence affecting the software industry and the need to adapt to new, less favorable conditions by implementing profound changes. We assessed that the situation carried a high degree of risk, as a result of over-investment and a slowdown in growth.

2-      Main facts from 2014:

For 2014, the Truffle 100 Europe highlights a return to growth with total revenues of €62.2 billion, up 8.3% compared to 2013 (+2.7% in 2013). French software companies account for 12.2% of the Truffle 100’s total revenues with 22 vendors (against 11.9% with 21 publishers in 2013) and move closer to the second position of the ranking. German publishers are still leading the way (49.8% of total revenues with 17 companies) and the United-Kingdom comes second (12.4% with 19 companies), followed very closely by the French companies.

The winners of the national leaders of global scale remains unchanged: SAP continues to lead, followed by Dassault Systems. Sage and Hexagon occupy the 3^rd and 4^th position, respectively.

Software sales are up 6% to €44.419 billion.

The 2014 figures also show a continuing trend towards revenue concentration among the top 25 software companies (up 2 points to 77%) and the growing reluctance of financial markets to invest in the sector, with both of these trends already under way in 2013. The ranking also highlights a strong commitment from companies to innovation and R&D, with stable total investments of €7 billion.

Key figures from the Truffle 100 Europe 2014:

• Promising return to revenue growth, up 8.3% to €62.2 billion, compared to +2.7% to €57.4 billion in 2013. The top 25 companies in the ranking account for 77% of the total revenue (75% in 2013);
• Decline of financial strength: 42 companies have revenues above €200 million (compared to 50 in 2013); 65 companies have revenues above €100 million (compared to 67 in 2013); and 94 above €50 million (compared to 98 in 2013).
• Software sales are up 6% to €44.4 billion, compared to €42 billion in 2013.
• In 2014, 54 of the companies ranked on the Truffle 100 Europe are publicly traded (compared to 56 listed companies in 2013), representing 81.6% of total revenues (80.6% in 2013), 77.5% of R&D overall expenditures and 94.7% of R&D investments (95% in 2013);
• The amount of investment in R&D remained stable at € 7 billion, compared to €6.9 billion in 2013.

Method for the ranking

The Truffle 100 ranking is conducted by IDC and CXP Group. Confidential information has been consolidated with other sources of data in order to only show a global perspective. The participation survey is available on the website www.truffle100.com. Companies wishing to participate can register at any time.

About Truffle Capital

Truffle Capital is an independent European venture capital firm founded in 2001 and whose assets under management and advisory total €720 million, as of June 30, 2015, mostly via institutional and retail private equity funds (FPCIs and FCPIs). Specialized in investments in companies developing breakthrough technologies and products in the Information Technology and Life Sciences sectors, Truffle is led by a team of three founding partners, Henri Moulard, Dr. Philippe Pouletty and Bernard-Louis Roques, with decades of successful investment and entrepreneurial experience in Europe and the U.S.