Softonic, the world’s leading secure software download platform, has today announced that it achieved annual revenue growth of 34% in 2022, following a landmark year for the business.
The European tech industry was expected to close last year at just over 6%1. However, Softonic defied expectations with double-digit growth to €26.6 million compared to 2021’s €19.8M.
Fiona Garvey, Softonic’s CEO, credits the company’s success to diversifying and consolidating its business model. By investing in people, technology, and product development, Softonic has better and more efficiently served its growing market.
As tech investment pulled back2 towards the end of 2022, Garvey’s plan was to invest in areas of the business that delivered the best return. A strategy that Garvey, whose appointment coincided with Softonic’s 25th anniversary in the summer of 2022, believes helped it grow without sacrificing EBITDA.
“I’m proud of our growth trajectory last year,” Garvey said. “As well as diversifying our business model and rethinking our company culture, we pushed an innovative mindset across the organisation, developing new products, adding revenue streams, and automating while keeping excellent service at the core of all we do.”
Technology has played an important role in how the company has evolved. In recent years, Softonic has started using AI to detect software trends to better serve its customers and developed programmatic advertising services for its publishing partners. These diversification initiatives now account for 35% of Softonic’s annual revenue.
One example is rev•amp, an adtech solution for publishers. After 25 years of perfecting its monetization models, Softonic now shares its expertise to help others grow ad revenue. Early customers have reported a 40% increase in revenue in just six months. As a result, rev•amp has grown on average 100% year over year during its first three years.
Since 1997 Softonic has reinvented itself several times, from distributing software CDs to becoming the number one publishing platform for desktop and mobile applications. Softonic has learned to adapt to challenges by staying true to its founding principles. Today it is a leaner, more agile business that helps over 75 million people find the software they need to work and play.
The organisation’s workforce grew 27% last year, with almost half of employees having joined in the last 18 months. Investing in talent not only helped Softonic achieve its goals but also gave people the chance to learn and prosper along with the company, which has helped keep staff turnover low and motivation high.
“We have ambitious growth plans for the coming years, and I believe that last year we laid the groundwork for this to happen,” Garvey said. “The results in 2022 support the strategy and the decisions this great team has made.”
1https://www.statista.com/outlook/tmo/software/europe
2https://tech.eu/2022/11/02/october-2022-deals-exits-and-two-new-european-unicorns/