A billion dollar Montreal-based privately-held Constellation Software clone has burst on the scene: Valsoft. Two opportunistic US investors (Coatue Management and Viking Global Investors) led a US $170m financing announced yesterday. A previous $100m financing by Viking had already valued the business at over US$ 1 Billion. The company was only founded in 2015, inspired by the success of Constellation Software, the global consolidator of "Vertical Market Software". Publicly-listed Constellation has been compounding at over 30%+ for more than two decades.
The founders are Sam Youssef, CEO (pictured above) and Steph Manos, both in their early forties. The Concordia University computer engineering graduates previously founded the company behind PornHub, but sold their stake in 2010. Sam Youssef was inspired to start Valsoft after spending months studying value investing and buying shares of Constellation.
Like Constellation, Valsoft buys to keep, targeting established software businesses with stable cash flow and revenue ranging from $3 million to $50 million. Its portfolio now comprises over 100 businesses in over 40 verticals from over 50 countries. The company claims to be on track for an IPO with plans to "grow 50% in the next year or two". I was very impressed by this success story and also note that two US investors, rather than the locals, swooped in to invest. There are several other Constellation clones, Arcadea Group of Toronto is another notable one.
You can read more background about Valsoft from the following:
BetaKit