Odoo

Odoo is a Belgian business software company and the name of an integrated suite of enterprise applications used by small and medium-sized businesses, larger organizations, educational institutions, and implementation partners. Its product portfolio spans enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, sales, e-commerce, accounting, invoicing, inventory, manufacturing, purchasing, point of sale, human resources, marketing, project management, website development, document management, electronic signatures, helpdesk, events, appointments, rental, and related business functions. Rather than requiring customers to assemble a collection of unrelated specialist applications, Odoo presents these capabilities as modules built on a shared technical framework and database. The product originated in Belgium in the mid-2000s, when Fabien Pinckaers developed software that was first known as TinyERP. The project was renamed OpenERP in 2008 as its ambitions expanded beyond a narrow enterprise-resource-planning focus. In 2014, the company and product adopted the Odoo name to signal a broader business-application strategy. The rebranding reflected the evolution of the platform from a conventional ERP package into a wider operating system for business processes, including front-office, commerce, productivity, and service applications. Odoo is structured around a modular architecture. Customers can activate only the applications they need and later add modules as their operations grow. Official applications developed by Odoo S.A. coexist with community-developed extensions and third-party integrations. The ecosystem includes implementation partners, developers, consultants, training providers, and a marketplace through which additional applications and customizations can be distributed. This ecosystem is a central part of Odoo's positioning: the company supplies a coherent product platform while partners provide localization, deployment, configuration, migration, and industry-specific development. The software is offered in two principal editions. Odoo Community is the open-source edition, with the core Community code distributed under the GNU LGPLv3 license for current releases. Odoo Enterprise adds proprietary applications, commercial services, support, hosting options, and additional functionality under Odoo's enterprise licensing terms. Since the release of version 9.0, the company has generally operated an open-core model in which open-source components provide the foundation and proprietary enterprise features and cloud services form the principal commercial layer. Customers may deploy Odoo on their own infrastructure, use Odoo.sh for managed development and hosting, or subscribe to Odoo Online, the company's software-as-a-service offering. Odoo's commercial appeal is based on the combination of breadth, integration, customization, and comparatively accessible entry points. The platform targets organizations that want more functionality than a basic accounting or invoicing package but may find traditional enterprise suites too costly, complex, or fragmented. Its integrated approach can reduce duplicate data entry between sales, inventory, purchasing, accounting, manufacturing, and customer-service teams. At the same time, the breadth of the platform means that successful deployments often depend on careful implementation, data migration, user training, localization, and governance of custom modules. The company has expanded internationally through direct offices, a global partner network, multilingual software, country-specific accounting localizations, and recurring product releases. Odoo has also promoted its ecosystem through the annual Odoo Experience event, training programs, community initiatives, and developer activities. The Odoo Community Association, established in 2013, supports collaborative development around the broader Odoo ecosystem, although it is organizationally distinct from Odoo S.A. Odoo remains privately held and led by founder and chief executive Fabien Pinckaers. Its growth has been supported by outside investment, including General Atlantic's strategic investment announced in 2023 and a large secondary share transaction announced in November 2024 involving CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, BlackRock, Mubadala Investment Company, HarbourVest Partners, AVP, and Alkeon. The 2024 transaction was reported by Odoo as valuing the company at approximately €5 billion, while external reporting described the transaction as approximately $527 million and a valuation of about $5.26 billion. Odoo's continued strategy is to expand its integrated application portfolio, cloud delivery, international footprint, partner ecosystem, and reach among small and medium-sized enterprises while maintaining a distinctive connection to open-source software.

Odoo's history began with Fabien Pinckaers, who developed the first version of the software in Belgium during the 2000s. The project was initially called TinyERP, reflecting its original emphasis on enterprise-resource-planning functions. The platform was designed around the idea that business software could be modular, extensible, and more accessible to smaller organizations than traditional proprietary ERP systems. In 2008, the project was renamed OpenERP. The new name emphasized enterprise resource planning and helped distinguish the expanding product from its earlier identity. OpenERP retained an open-source foundation and attracted a growing community of developers, integrators, and users. Its modular architecture allowed organizations to add functions progressively, while third parties could create applications and integrations for specialized industries, countries, and workflows. By 2010, the company had grown to more than 100 employees. During the following years, OpenERP broadened its product scope beyond core back-office resource planning. Newer releases incorporated or strengthened customer relationship management, sales, purchasing, warehouse operations, manufacturing, accounting, website construction, e-commerce, project work, and other operational functions. The resulting product was increasingly positioned as a unified business application platform rather than a narrowly defined ERP package. The ecosystem became more organized in 2013 with the establishment of the Odoo Community Association. The association supports community collaboration, module maintenance, development practices, and the broader use of Odoo-related open-source software. It is separate from Odoo S.A., but its existence illustrates the importance of community participation to the platform's development model. The company changed its name from OpenERP to Odoo in 2014. The new name reflected the breadth of the software and the company's desire to move beyond the limitations implied by the ERP label. Around the same period, Odoo increasingly adopted a hybrid commercial model. Earlier releases had been more closely identified with open-source ERP, but from version 9.0 onward the company combined open-source Community software with proprietary Enterprise applications, paid support, and cloud-based services. This open-core structure allowed Odoo to monetize advanced features and hosted services while continuing to maintain an open-source foundation. Odoo's earlier success under the OpenERP name was recognized through several business and technology awards, including Belgian growth recognition and the Deloitte Technology Fast 50. After the rebranding, the company continued to receive attention for its growth and was included in Inc. magazine's 2015 list of the fastest-growing private companies in Europe. The business also expanded its international network of offices and implementation partners, supporting deployments in multiple languages and jurisdictions. In 2019, Odoo raised approximately $90 million in investment funding. The financing supported product development, hiring, and international growth while the company continued to operate as a private business. By 2021, reports indicated that Odoo products were being used by more than five million users or customers. Founder and CEO Fabien Pinckaers described plans to expand the workforce, particularly in software development and related roles. A significant commercial change came in October 2022, when Odoo announced a simplified pricing structure. The company moved toward plans in which customers could access the full application suite for a per-user subscription fee, while retaining a free option for using one application with unlimited users. The change was intended to make the platform easier to understand and more attractive to organizations that needed several integrated applications. It also aligned Odoo's pricing with its broader strategy of encouraging customers to adopt the suite rather than purchase isolated modules. In June 2023, Odoo announced an investment of approximately €150 million from General Atlantic. The transaction was presented as strategic growth capital for continued global expansion. Odoo subsequently reported €282 million in revenue for 2023, representing 33 percent growth over the previous year, and stated that it employed more than 2,200 people while remaining profitable. These figures marked the company's transition from a Belgian open-source software project into a substantial international enterprise-software provider. In November 2024, Odoo announced a €500 million secondary share transaction led by CapitalG and Sequoia Capital, with additional participation from BlackRock, Mubadala Investment Company, HarbourVest Partners, AVP, and Alkeon. Because the transaction was primarily secondary, it involved existing shareholders selling shares rather than representing a conventional primary capital raise for the company's balance sheet. Odoo said the transaction valued the company at approximately €5 billion. External reporting expressed the transaction and valuation in dollar terms at approximately $527 million and $5.26 billion, respectively. Today, Odoo operates as a privately held, internationally active software company headquartered in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Its business combines open-source software, proprietary enterprise applications, SaaS hosting, implementation services, a partner channel, training, support, and a marketplace of extensions. Its historical trajectory is defined by the expansion from TinyERP to OpenERP and then Odoo; the shift from a primarily open-source ERP product to an open-core application platform; and the increasing use of cloud delivery and subscription pricing to serve a broad global SME market.

• 2024

  €500 million secondary share transaction

  [7]Odoo S.A. Announces a €500 Million Transactionodoo.com

  Odoo announced a secondary share transaction involving major institutional investors and a reported valuation of approximately €5 billion.

• 2023

  General Atlantic investment

  [6]Odoo S.A. Announces €150m Investment from General Atlanticodoo.com

  General Atlantic invested approximately €150 million in Odoo to support continued global growth.

• 2023

  Reports €282 million revenue

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  Odoo reported €282 million in 2023 revenue, 33 percent year-on-year growth, and more than 2,200 employees.

• 2022

  Introduces simplified subscription pricing

  [5]Odoo's New Pricingodoo.com

  Odoo introduced a simplified pricing structure centered on per-user access to the full application suite, alongside a free one-app option.

• 2021

  Reported reach exceeds five million users or customers

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  Reports stated that Odoo products were used by more than five million users or customers.

• 2019

  Raises approximately $90 million

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  Odoo raised approximately $90 million in investment funding to support further development and expansion.

• 2015

  Recognized among Europe's fastest-growing private companies

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  Inc. magazine included Odoo in its ranking of Europe's fastest-growing private companies.

• 2014

  OpenERP becomes Odoo

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  The company and product were rebranded Odoo to reflect a broader business-application portfolio beyond traditional ERP.

• 2013

  Odoo Community Association established

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  The Odoo Community Association was established to support collaborative development and use of the software ecosystem.

• 2013

  Belgian growth recognition

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  The company received Deloitte-related and other Belgian growth recognition while still operating under the OpenERP name.

• 2010

  Company exceeds 100 employees

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  The company reached a workforce of more than 100 people, indicating substantial early growth.

• 2008

  Renamed OpenERP

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  The project adopted the OpenERP name as its functionality and market ambitions expanded.

• 2005

  TinyERP project developed

  [1]Odooen.wikipedia.org

  Fabien Pinckaers developed the software that later became Odoo, initially under the TinyERP name.

Integrated open-core ERP and business applications platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, delivered through open-source software, commercial enterprise modules, cloud services, and an international implementation ecosystem.

• Open-source ERP and business application platform · 2005

  Odoo Community

  Odoo Community is the open-source edition of the Odoo platform. It provides the core framework and a broad set of business applications that can be self-hosted, modified, extended, and integrated by organizations and developers. Current Community releases are distributed under the GNU LGPLv3 license. The edition is often used by companies that want control over infrastructure and customization, by implementation partners building specialized solutions, and by developers participating in the wider Odoo ecosystem.

• Commercial ERP and business application suite · 2015

  Odoo Enterprise

  Odoo Enterprise is the commercial edition of the platform. It combines the Community foundation with proprietary applications, additional functionality, commercial licensing, support, and access to services associated with Odoo's subscription ecosystem. Enterprise is intended for organizations that require a broader functional set, vendor-backed support, managed services, or features not included in the Community edition. It is central to Odoo's open-core business model.

• Software-as-a-service ERP platform · 2014

  Odoo Online

  Odoo Online is Odoo's hosted SaaS deployment option. It provides browser-based access to Odoo applications on Odoo-managed infrastructure, with hosting, maintenance, monitoring, backups, and subscription administration handled as part of the service. It is designed for organizations that want to use the standard platform without managing servers or performing routine infrastructure operations themselves.

• Managed cloud development and hosting platform · 2015

  Odoo.sh

  Odoo.sh is a managed cloud platform intended for customers and partners that need custom development, version control, staging environments, automated deployment workflows, and greater technical control than the standard SaaS service. It supports organizations running customized Odoo databases while retaining managed hosting and platform services from Odoo.

• Business application marketplace

  Odoo Apps

  Odoo Apps is the marketplace and distribution layer for Odoo modules and extensions. It includes applications developed by Odoo and third-party developers for functions, industries, localizations, integrations, reporting, and workflow customization. The marketplace extends the standard product and helps connect Odoo's core software to its global developer and implementation-partner ecosystem.

• Customer relationship management and sales automation

  CRM and Sales

  Odoo's CRM and Sales applications manage leads, opportunities, quotations, sales orders, customer records, activities, pipelines, and related commercial workflows. They are integrated with invoicing, e-commerce, inventory, subscriptions, marketing, and reporting, allowing customer acquisition and order processing to share information across the suite.

• Finance and accounting software

  Accounting and Invoicing

  The Accounting and Invoicing applications support invoicing, payments, bank synchronization, taxes, financial reporting, expenses, customer and vendor accounting, and related finance workflows. Country-specific localizations adapt the platform to different tax and reporting environments. These applications are designed to connect financial records with sales, purchasing, inventory, expenses, and other operational transactions.

• Supply-chain and manufacturing management software

  Inventory and Manufacturing

  Odoo's Inventory and Manufacturing applications cover warehouse operations, stock movements, routes, replenishment, purchase flows, bills of materials, manufacturing orders, work centers, quality processes, and related supply-chain controls. Their integration with sales, purchasing, accounting, and logistics enables businesses to manage physical goods and production within the same application environment.

• Website builder and online commerce platform

  Website and eCommerce

  The Website and eCommerce applications allow organizations to create websites, online stores, product catalogs, shopping flows, payment processes, customer portals, and content pages. Because the tools connect to Odoo's CRM, Sales, Inventory, Accounting, Marketing, and Website modules, online orders can flow directly into fulfillment, invoicing, customer management, and reporting processes.

• Project, timesheet, planning, and service management software

  Project and Services

  Odoo's Project and Services applications support project organization, tasks, milestones, planning, timesheets, billing, field or helpdesk workflows, and internal collaboration. They are used by professional-services businesses and internal teams to connect work management with employees, sales orders, expenses, customer accounts, and financial processes.

• Retail and hospitality point-of-sale software

  Point of Sale

  Odoo Point of Sale supports retail and hospitality transactions, product catalogs, payment flows, receipts, customer identification, inventory updates, and reporting. Its connection to Inventory, Sales, Accounting, eCommerce, and loyalty-related functions is intended to provide a common operational system for physical stores, restaurants, and other customer-facing businesses.

• Odoo Experience

  Global

  Odoo Experience is Odoo's recurring international conference and community event for customers, partners, developers, employees, and business users. It combines product announcements, training, technical sessions, implementation examples, networking, and presentations about the company's ecosystem. The event functions as a major platform for communicating product strategy and supporting adoption.

  Outcome. The event has become a recurring mechanism for product communication, partner engagement, community participation, and commercial education.

  Source
• Odoo Education Program

  Global

  Odoo promotes educational use of its software through training resources, academic initiatives, and programs aimed at students and educational institutions. The initiative supports familiarity with ERP and business-process software and helps build a future user, developer, and implementation-partner community.

  Outcome. The program extends Odoo's reach into education and contributes to workforce and ecosystem development.

  Source

• 2024

  Completes a major secondary share transactionM&A

  Background

  Odoo's continuing growth and private-company status created an opportunity for new institutional investors to acquire shares from existing shareholders.

  Action taken

  Odoo announced a €500 million secondary transaction led by CapitalG and Sequoia Capital, with participation from several additional institutional investors.

  Aftermath

  The transaction reportedly raised Odoo's valuation to approximately €5 billion while allowing existing investors to realize part of their holdings without an initial public offering.

  Secondary share transaction and implied valuation. Previously reported valuation of approximately €3.2 billion → €500 million transaction and implied valuation of approximately €5 billion (November 2024)

  Source

• 2023

  Accepts strategic investment from General AtlanticM&A

  Background

  Odoo sought additional support for international expansion while remaining a privately held company.

  Action taken

  Odoo announced an investment of approximately €150 million from General Atlantic.

  Aftermath

  The investment strengthened Odoo's growth resources and was presented as support for expanding its global presence and SME software business.

  Strategic investment. Approximately €150 million investment from General Atlantic (June 2023)

  Source

• 2022

  Simplifies subscription pricing around full-suite accessPrice change

  Background

  Odoo stated that its previous app-based pricing could make the suite less attractive for single users and organizations with complex, multi-application needs.

  Action taken

  Odoo introduced a simplified per-user structure in which its main paid plans provide access to all applications, while retaining a free one-app option.

  Aftermath

  The change made the commercial offer easier to communicate and encouraged broader adoption of Odoo as an integrated suite rather than as a collection of separately priced applications.

  Subscription pricing structure. Pricing combined a per-user charge with separate application charges → Main paid plans provide access to all applications for a per-user subscription fee; a one-app free option remains (October 2022 onward)

  Source

• 2015

  Adopts a clearer open-core commercial modelStrategy

  Background

  The company needed to fund continued product development and support while preserving an open-source foundation.

  Action taken

  From the Odoo 9 generation onward, Odoo combined open-source Community software with proprietary Enterprise applications, commercial licensing, support, and SaaS services.

  Aftermath

  The model gave Odoo a recurring commercial revenue base while retaining open-source participation and third-party extensibility.

  Source

• 2014

  Rebrand from OpenERP to OdooStrategy

  Background

  The product had expanded into commerce, websites, customer management, productivity, and other functions that were not adequately represented by the ERP label.

  Action taken

  The company changed its name from OpenERP to Odoo and repositioned the product as an integrated suite of business applications.

  Aftermath

  The Odoo name became the foundation for the company's broader application, cloud, partner, and marketplace strategy.

  Source

• 2013

  Establishes the Odoo Community AssociationStrategy

  Background

  Odoo's open-source model depended on collaboration among developers, users, integrators, and organizations beyond the company itself.

  Action taken

  The Odoo Community Association was established as an independent organization to support collaborative development and use of Odoo-related software.

  Aftermath

  The association became a recognized part of the wider Odoo ecosystem, while remaining distinct from Odoo S.A.

  Source

• 2008

  Rebrand from TinyERP to OpenERPStrategy

  Background

  The original TinyERP project had expanded beyond its initial scope, and the company sought a name that better represented enterprise resource planning and its growing product ambitions.

  Action taken

  The company renamed the project and business OpenERP.

  Aftermath

  The OpenERP identity became the platform's principal brand until the broader Odoo rebrand in 2014.

  Source

1. 1Odooen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Odoo About Usodoo.com
3. 3Odoo Contact Usodoo.com
4. 4Odoo Pricingodoo.com
5. 5Odoo's New Pricingodoo.com
6. 6Odoo S.A. Announces €150m Investment from General Atlanticodoo.com
7. 7Odoo S.A. Announces a €500 Million Transactionodoo.com
8. 8Odoo Licenses Documentationodoo.com
9. 9Odoo Experienceodoo.com
10. 10Odoo Education Programodoo.com