By finding the right niche, the Medtech software house has increased revenue 70 times in 6 years
Applover is a software house from Poland that helps companies with software development, product building, and technology consulting. And it is doing so on an ever-increasing scale. The company has completed over 220 Vodafone, Glovo, and Plenty of Fish projects. It employs about 140 people. It collects awards for the fastest-growing companies in Poland – Forbes Diamonds. In the CEE region – Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe. And across Europe – FT 1000: Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies. In 2022, the company generated about $6.1 million in revenue and $0.55 million in net profit. Its dream is to sell well, but this will only be possible with revenues of more than $15 million annually.
From Footsteps to Applover
The company’s founders started running the business in 2015 with the Footsteps app. Users, specifying their travel preferences, could use it to select the most exciting set of routes in a given city from their point of view. At its peak, it was used by 10,000 users but lacked a good business model to make money from it. Since their company was approached from the very beginning by both individuals and companies asking them to write dedicated apps, a decision was made in 2016 to set up software house Applover. Unfortunately, running two very different types of business – service and product – was not a good solution.
Therefore, in 2019, the Footsteps project was finally extinguished, and Applover was restructured. The timing was the best possible because in 2020, just after the outbreak of the pandemic, the demand for software houses increased tremendously. Applover boasted revenue of $1.5 million at the time, but it was already $2.8 million the following year. The company also decided to start specializing in solutions for the broader MedTech sector. It was because not many software houses in Poland were dealing with this at the time. And it was a good idea because now 1/3 of the total revenue comes from this sector. Among the company’s customers, one can mention pharmaceutical concern Egis, biotech company Inngen, Lithuanian startup Kilo Health, and US company Bennabis Health, which specializes in providing medical marijuana.
Plans for future
The growth rate od MedTech software house is also tremendous. The company grew 70-fold between 2016 and 2022, and only this year has seen some stagnation. One reason is that most of its customers are from outside Poland. And the zloty has strengthened markedly against the dollar and euro. A second is the need to obtain the necessary certificates and meet many compliance requirements, which costs money and takes time. Finally, the third is that the overall technology market has slowed significantly. If the trend reverses, in 2024, the company would like to have 70% of its revenue from MedTech already. It is also moving towards its first acquisitions of smaller software houses and rebranding. Exits, however, will have to wait a few more years.
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