Building A Software Company From Toulouse, France: Jacques Soumeillan, CEO Of Cameleon Software (Part 6)

Sramana: Has the manufacturing business come back? Are you getting sales from the manufacturing companies?

Jacques Soumeillan: The manufacturing business is still there. We like to keep our existing customers. We are still developing and improving that product. It is our core knowledge, and we will continue to focus on it. Obviously 2009 was not a good year for those companies, but we did still have some success there. We strongly believe that the telecommunications markets and insurance markets are strong markets for our technology.

Sramana: You had €10 million revenue in 1999. How much did you drop in the downturn?

Jacques Soumeillan: In 2001 we had hit €16 million. In 2004 we went back to €9 million. In the meantime, we sold our CAD and ERP business in 2009. It is difficult to compare the various revenue levels because of that. I can tell you that based on our current product line we have had double-digit growth every year since 2006, with the exception of 2009. In 2010, we had 22% growth over 2009.

Sramana: What was the revenue in 2010 after all of the spinoffs were sold?

Jacques Soumeillan: It was €8.5 million.

Sramana: How does the public market in France deal with all the revenue gyrations?

Jacques Soumeillan: Small caps like us are still trying to recover. The big-name stocks are recovering right now and we still waiting for our recovery. We are quiet and focusing on developing our business. Sometimes with a stock exchance you have to wait until people get more confidence in the future. They will buy shares once they realize we are a good company.

Sramana: How many people do you have working in Toulouse?

Jacques Soumeillan: We have 60 people. We have another office in Paris and we just opened an office in London. We also have an office in Chicago to support the U.S. operations.

Sramana: How are you viewed in Toulouse? Are there other software companies there as well?

Jacques Soumeillan: Toulouse is the second-largest location in France for IT companies. We have several French businesses as well as several international businesses. This is the location where you will find the most entrepreneurial companies. We are even developing a cluster of IT companies in Toulouse to develop the visibility of the region in the IT sector and advocate for it internationally. I am the vice president of that initiative and am working to make sure that people know that Toulouse is a very nice place to have an IT business and to start a business.

This segment is part 6 in the series : Building A Software Company From Toulouse, France: Jacques Soumeillan, CEO Of Cameleon Software
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