blueKiwi Software, the leading European provider of Enterprise Social Software, announces today that it has raised €4.7 million in a second round of funding — in its three years as a company.

The funding — among the largest achieved in France since the beginning of the year on the small caps market — shows how hot the social software sector is and how blueKiwi Software in particular is riding a wave of excitement. According to Gartner, the enterprise social software market is forecast to grow from $317.5 million in 2007 to $939.4 million worldwide in 2012, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.4%*.

The company was founded by Carlos Diaz and Christophe Routhieau in 2006, and has now 45.000 users with customers and partners in France, Belgium, Germany, UK and Scandinavia. It released blueKiwi 2009 in January this year and is delivering on an aggressive roadmap of quarterly product updates.

The historical investor Sofinnova Partners, who funded the company in June 2007, participated in this new round and stays the leading investor; while Dassault Systèmes, the worldwide leader in 3D and PLM solutions, decided to invest more than €3 million. This new entry at blueKiwi Software’s board is a major milestone underlying a strategic technological and sales alliance signed by both companies to drive new growth opportunities and deliver on their shared vision of the Enterprise 2.0.

“We are thrilled to complete this second tour and to welcome such a first class industrial partner as Dassault Systèmes” says Carlos Diaz, CEO of blueKiwi Software. “This strategic alliance will allow us to accelerate our international expansion and also to out-innovate new Enterprise 2.0 usages while elevating technological entry barriers”.

Bernard Charles, CEO of Dassault Systèmes comments: “blueKiwi and DS share the same vision of Social Innovation. Enterprise Social Networks will revolutionize the connecting of people, ideas and experiences. By combining our unique strengths, we are building a social software worldwide leader”.

Olivier Sichel, partner at Sofinnova Partners concludes: “blueKiwi Software has a considerable potential of growth, encouraged by a steady increase of customers and a talented managerial team, now strengthened by Bernard Charlès joining as executive sponsor. This alliance is a perfect match and will propel the company at the first place with the ability to leverage Dassault Systèmes’ powerful team and exceptional experience”.

About blueKiwi Software

blueKiwi Software is the leading European provider of Enterprise Social Software. The solution enables people-centric organizations to create powerful and secure professional networks where employees, partners and customers can share conversations, ideas, skills, resources and best practice with one another. blueKiwi promotes a culture of collaboration and openness that helps businesses of any sizes increase their sales productivity, foster new ideas and increase staff satisfaction and retention. With operations in France and United Kingdom, the company has a track record of successfully enabling social and business networking for some of Europe’s leading companies. www.bluekiwi-software.com

About Dassault Systèmes

As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 100,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product - SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design - DELMIA for virtual production - SIMULIA for virtual testing - ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systèmes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges. 
www.3ds.com

About Sofinnova Partners

Sofinnova Partners was established in Paris in 1972 and is one of Europe’s leading independent venture-capital firms. With EUR 900m under management, Sofinnova Partners invests in start-ups and early-stage companies in information technology and life sciences. Its investment strategy consists in investing early in teams and projects with high potential, in most cases acting as leading investor. Sofinnova Partners also has a longstanding relationship with Sofinnova Ventures, its sister company in San Francisco. The Sofinnova Partners team is made up of 10 professionals who contribute valuable market insight and technical expertise to portfolio companies. www.sofinnova.fr

Press Contacts

For blueKiwi Software: Text100, Pierre Le Leannec, leleannec@text100.fr
, +33 1 56 99 71 40
For Dassault Systèmes: Arnaud Malherbe (DS EMEA), arnaud.malherbe@3ds.com, +33 (1) 61 62 87 73
For Sofinnova Partners: Sandrine Le Penru, slepenru@sofinnova.fr
, +33 1 53 05 41 22

blueKiwi announced its partnership with Dassault Systèmes during The Enterprise 2.0 Conference.

About The Enterprise 2.0 Conference

The Enterprise 2.0 Conference explores the integration of Web 2.0 technologies in the enterprise, from both strategic and tactical perspectives. This annual conference and sponsor pavilion focuses on the tools and techniques that best leverage the technical, productive and social aspects of IT and workgroup environments to build a cohesive collaboration strategy and empower a connected workforce. For more information visit: www.e2conf.com.

Dataquest Insight: 10 November 2008/ID Number: G00162301

Download the press release: