Belgian business software company Odoo, also a unicorn, has reached a fresh milestone. Growth investor General Atlantic has increased its stake in the firm, buying additional shares from regional backer Wallonie Entreprendre and pushing Odoo’s valuation to roughly €7 billion. 

This move isn’t a typical funding round where a company raises new capital. Instead, it’s a secondary transaction: General Atlantic bought existing shares that were previously held by Wallonie Entreprendre, the investment arm of Belgium’s Walloon region. After the deal, Wallonie Entreprendre still holds about 3 % of the company. 

Odoo was founded in 2002 in Belgium and has grown steadily from a small project into a global software platform. It offers an integrated suite of business applications used by small and medium-sized enterprises for everything from finance and sales to HR and marketing.

The software is built on an open-core model that encourages developers around the world to build add-on apps, creating a vast ecosystem of nearly 40,000 extensions.

Today, Odoo counts more than 170,000 paying customers in around 180 countries. That global footprint and the steady revenue growth it has delivered helped convince General Atlantic to deepen its involvement.

Since first investing in the company in 2023, the firm has supported Odoo’s expansion into new markets and helped refine its commercial strategy. 

Part of what makes this update noteworthy is how Odoo has expanded its product offerings. Its newest versions include AI-infused features and automation tools that make the suite more attractive to businesses looking to replace outdated, fragmented systems with a single, unified digital platform.

For the European tech scene, this development highlights a shift in how successful software companies grow and attract capital. Rather than chasing quick exits or IPOs, some founders are choosing secondary share deals to let early investors realise gains while keeping strategic control.

That path can make it easier for companies to stay private longer and focus on building value over time.

I don’t know what is happening in Belgium or what they are having for breakfast, but the country itself has quietly become a place where software businesses can scale internationally.

Odoo is one of its standout success stories, showing that strong product focus, community-driven development, and global reach can win serious backing from major growth investors.

Published January 20, 2026 – 11:19 am UTC

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