The story of Odoo is detonating. In an ecosystem dominated by fundraising, spectacular valuations and hypercroissance strategies, the Belgian management software publisher displays a radically opposite model. Zero Outbound until recently, two lifted in twenty years, annual growth of 50 % since its creation, sustained profitability, and a categorical refusal of IPO or industrial sales. In 2025, Odoo crossed 550 million euros in turnover, with a workforce of 5,000 employees. Its founder, Fabien Pinckaers, still holds 57 % of the capital.
Growth built on the product, not on capital
Odoo’s trajectory is part of a long time, foreign to priming cycles, series A or Blitzscaling. From the outset, the company is built around a clear vision: create a unified software suite covering all the management needs of SMEs. The project is ambitious. Unlike Lean Startup injunctions, Odoo does not start with a MVP but simultaneously develops accounting, CRM, logistics, billing and e-commerce. Two years of R&D are necessary to release a first version. This risky choice, however, lays down the foundations of an integrated, coherent software architecture, and designed from the start as an alternative to fragmented market solutions.
No lifting, no debt, no cash: a resilience school
The starting model is based on services. To finance development, the company sells tailor -made services to its customers. The growth is slow, constrained by the lack of cash. On several occasions, the company borders on bankruptcy. Salaries are poured with delay. The first fundraiser came in 2010 – three million euros raised from Sofinnova Partners. Post-money valuation amounts to ten million euros. Pinckaers keeps the majority. In 2014, a second lifting of seven million euros was made, at a valuation of 30 million. Since then, Odoo has no longer called on venture capital. The company is self -funded, profitable, and only performs secondary operations to allow the gradual exit of historical shareholders.
A fully inbound distribution … up to € 500 million in income
For more than fifteen years, Odoo developed without outbound marketing. The acquisition is based exclusively on word of mouth and product satisfaction. Customers recommend the software, partners integrate it, growth is propagated by the quality of the user experience. Even today, the majority of leads come from recommendations. The commercial force performs a simple process: product demonstration, no complex argument, no initial vertical segmentation. The average ticket is around 3,500 euros annually per customer. This model, largely under the radar of large financial centers, nevertheless allows Odoo to exceed the 500 million euros in revenue mark in 2025.
The assumed choice of low pricing and a logic of volume
Where most SaaS publishers align their price strategy on customer size, Odoo opts for reverse pricing. In 2022, the company decided to reduce its prices for small structures: 20 euros per user and per month, against 120 before. Result: immediate acceleration of subscriptions. The number of new customers is multiplied by 2.8. This convenience logic is based on a conviction: like Word or Excel, management software will eventually be standardized and omnipresent. To achieve this, you need a complete product, fluid integration, an intuitive interface, and a marginal cost. Odoo builds his advance on these four pillars.
An organizational model opposed to dominant codes
Odoo does not recruit any external manager. All executives come from internal promotions. The company operates without a distributed budget, without Forecast by team, without KPI outside sales team, and without recurring meeting. Recruitment is based on practical tests and a logic test, without examination of CVs. The job title is chosen freely by employees. Corporate culture is articulated around three values: autonomy, responsibility, evolution. In this minimalist architecture, efficiency is measured in contact with work, not by dashboards.
A long -term assumed vision, without IPO or exit
Fabien Pinckaers repeats it: Odoo will never be introduced to the stock exchange or industrial transfer. The company generates enough cash to finance its growth, remunerate its teams and acquire its own actions. The last secondary operation of 500 million euros in 2023, valuing the company at five billion, allowed Sequoia Capital, Blackrock, Capital and Mubadala to join the capital, without dilution of the founder. The latter continues to buy actions with each operation, even contracting personal loans to do so. He never sold a single share of his company.
A simple ambition: Build the Word of the Management Software
Odoo’s objective is not to become a sectoral leader, but to make universal management software, integrated, affordable. Where Salesforce and SAP multiply features and complexity, Odoo chooses consistency, efficiency, and software sobriety. The entire source code – only 400,000 lines – is controlled internally. The company is deployed geographically not depending on the markets, but the talents available internally. Each office opening results from a human opportunity, not from a marketing plan.
Another idea of entrepreneurial success
Odoo questions the dogmas of contemporary tech: slow but solid growth, absence of repeated levees, product centrality, mistrust of branding, and organizational radical. This singular trajectory shows that an alternative model is possible. A model in which obsession with valuation, debt and media noise gives way to patience, mastery, and lasting construction.
