As mentioned in another FAQ about customers, SymPlace is at the beginningof its story. In 2019, we launched a small product, the CMT (CommunityManagement Tool), which generated some revenue over the past 4 years, in aniche market (communities of interest around European research consortiumsrelated to projects with significant societal impact). Since our reorganizationtwo years ago, our cash burn has been close to zero...
Our main approach to valuation is based on a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)analysis by projecting into our crystal ball for the next 10 to 15 years. Weused a discount rate of over 100% to reflect the high risk but also thepotential to develop a new market and become the largest player in that market.5 million euros is slightly below this figure. We compared it with valuationsbased on multiples (discounted) of profit (with a ratio of 10 and a discountrate again of 100%) that would have given us a better valuation, and with usualmultiples (discounted) of revenues in this kind of high-investment, high-marginsoftware platform company (which would result in an even much higher valuation).
So, in summary, SymPlace is objectively a risky but cheap investment whenlooking at the prospects for return on investment.