ELOVADE is a leading pan-European value-added software distributor focused on mission-critical IT infrastructure for the SME segment. The company operates as a demand aggregator and outsourced sales, marketing and enablement arm for software OEMs of all sizes. By reducing structural complexity for both software vendors and partners, ELOVADE occupies a central and strategically relevant position within the European IT channel ecosystem.
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Wetzlar, ELOVADE employs approximately 250 highly specialized professionals and collaborates with a broad, scalable network of channel partners. Its portfolio comprises best-of-breed software solutions across cybersecurity, messaging & archiving, backup & storage, and professional service automation. The offering is further enhanced by ELOVADE’s proprietary SaaS platform, providing partners with access to cloud-based data protection and archiving services.
ELOVADE partners with thousands of value-added resellers (VARs) and managed service providers (MSPs), across key European markets — including DACH, Italy, Nordics and the UK — to accelerate go-to-market execution for software vendors and drive recurring revenue streams for its channel partners.
The acquisition
In 2019, NEXX Capital V acquired a majority stake in the company, then still operating under the former EBERTLANG brand, from the founding shareholders and a financial investor, with the management-team retaining a minority rollover stake.
Investment Rationale
- Attractive, high-growth niche market with strong cyclical resilience, driven by demand for mission-critical infrastructure software and a fragmented customer base within the SME segment.
- High proportion of recurring revenues provides visibility, predictability, and stable cash flow.
- Proprietary BI database enables highly individualized, yet automated, sales management.
- Significant cross- and upselling potential, as well as structured onboarding capabilities for additional software vendors into the portfolio.
- Transformation from a founder-led, local business into a professional buy-and-build platform with pan-European scalability.
Implementation of the growth concept
Following the structured management succession from the company founders, the strengthening of the second leadership tier, and the subsequent rebranding to “ELOVADE,” the foundation was laid for dynamic international growth, both organic and inorganic.
To date, seven add-on acquisitions have been executed across Europe. By building in-house M&A capabilities and developing a proprietary add-on playbook, ELOVADE has established itself as a pan-European buy-and-build platform, driving further consolidation in the VAD market.
Organic growth is fueled by expanding the software portfolio with new vendors, particularly in cybersecurity, increasing the partner base, and implementing cross- and upselling initiatives, sustainably raising the share of recurring revenues.
In parallel, ELOVADE’s IT systems landscape is being modernized and harmonized group-wide, ensuring technological scalability and operational efficiency.
