Main Capital Partners announces winners of the Main Software 50 DACH 2025

Now in its fourth edition, the Main Software 50 DACH has become a recognized benchmark for identifying excellence in the software industry. The ranking recognizes outstanding software enterprises that demonstrate exceptional growth, innovation, and impact – reflecting Main’s continued commitment to supporting and highlighting the strength of the sector. Unlike opinion-based awards, the ranking is derived from objective company data, evaluating performance across key criteria including growth, recurring revenues, profitability, internationalization, and innovation. Since its inception in the Benelux in 2012, the initiative has expanded to Germany in 2022, the Nordics in 2024, and the wider DACH region from 2025 onwards, reinforcing its role as a key indicator of Europe’s software-driven economic strength. To ensure transparency and accuracy, all results are verified by an independent research firm. For the 2025 DACH edition, the ranking was validated by Fraunhofer ISI.

Performance Benchmarks: Comparing 2024 and 2025

Market Insights: Continued growth, higher SaaS adoption and profitability stability

The 2025 edition reaffirms the resilience and maturity of the region’s software market, showing growth driven by recurring and international revenue streams. Total revenue among the top 50 companies reached €986 million, a 16% increase compared to 2024. The transition to cloud-based business models accelerated further, with SaaS revenues now accounting for 50% of total revenue (up from 38% last year), while recurring revenues climbed to 75% (up from 67%).

Software businesses in the DACH region continue to expand their international footprint, with 21% of total revenue now generated abroad, compared to 16% in the previous year. Meanwhile, revenue coming in through partners remains steady at 20%, reflecting ongoing collaboration within the software ecosystem. Profitability strengthened as well: 76% of companies reported EBITDA margins above 10%, up from 58% last year (adjusted for capitalized R&D).

Sector efficiency continued to grow, with companies in the 2025 edition generating €145,000 per FTE, up from €124,000 last year. R&D remains a strategic priority, with 78% of companies investing more than 10% of revenue in innovation (slightly down from 86% in 2024). Moreover, 42% of companies expect future revenue growth to exceed 20%, signaling sustained optimism despite a moderating macroeconomic climate.

These figures highlight a dynamic and resilient software ecosystem driven by sustainable growth, recurring business models, and disciplined investment in innovation and scalability.

Overall Champions 2025: Procilon Group, d.velop AG, and NFON AG

The ranking highlights companies that combine robust recurring business models with technological excellence and international growth. With an entirely different top three from last year, this year’s ranking highlights the sector’s agility and continuous evolution of the DACH software landscape.

Procilon Group, headquartered in Leipzig, claimed first place this year. Specializing in IT security and cryptography, Procilon delivers trusted software solutions for digital identity, secure communication, and data protection. Its scalable solution, long-standing reputation, and strong recurring revenue base have propelled it to the top of this year’s ranking. It indicates the momentum for security software made in Germany, given relevancy of the technology, and economic and geopolitical developments.

In second place, d.velop AG, with their own campus in Gescher, continues to strengthen its position as a European innovator in enterprise content management and document workflow solutions. With a broad content and document solution suite and growing international presence, d.velop empowers organizations to digitize and automate their information processes securely and efficiently.

NFON AG, headquartered in Munich, secured third place. NFON delivers cloud-based business communication solutions, serving more than 54.000 customers across Europe. NFON has demonstrated strong recurring revenue growth and benefits from a robust partner network. Its continuous focus on innovation, such as the integration of AI, and secure hosting in Europe position it as a significant player in the European communication software market.

Special Award Winners

CLIMCYCLE received the Highest Growth Award for achieving the most significant year-on-year revenue increase among all participants. Based in Vienna, CLIMCYCLE provides ESG management and sustainability reporting solutions, helping organizations measure, monitor, and reduce their environmental footprint. The company’s impressive growth reflects the rising importance of ESG and regulatory compliance in the corporate landscape.

The Cloud Champion Award for the best performing SaaS company went to Hivebuy, headquartered in Berlin. Hivebuy has developed a cost-efficient, cloud-native procurement platform that automates purchasing processes and simplifies budget control across organizations. Its strong growth underscores the value of intuitive, scalable SaaS solutions in streamlining enterprise workflows.

Concluding Insights: Sustained innovation and international ambition

This year’s results feature strong representation from companies operating in high-impact domains such as Security & Identity, Business Transformation, (secure) communication platforms, and AI – areas central to Europe’s digital transformation. The ranking once again highlights the critical contribution of DACH-based software companies to Europe’s digital sovereignty.