116 publicly listed SaaS and software companies — 92 US-listed and 24 European listed companies — with consistent metrics across all views. Plus a 13-year EV/Revenue trend chart based on BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index data (2013–2026).
Median EV/Revenue
4,7x
116 companies · Mar 31, 2026
Avg revenue growth
15,0%
Our basket · 116 cos · Q1 2026
EU median EV/Revenue
4,6x
vs 4.8x US median
2021 peak (historical)
18,6x
▼ 2021 peak · 13Y trend ↓
Trends
Analysis
Data
Company overview
Covering 116 publicly listed SaaS and software companies — US and European. Intended as benchmark context, not a comprehensive index. Data from most recent earnings releases as of March 31, 2026.
Region
Category
Company
Ticker
Category
Mkt cap
EV/Rev
Rev growth
EBITDA margin
Rule of 40
US companies: public SaaS index of 92 listed names. EU companies: GP Bullhound European SaaS Report, supplemented with listed names from Euronext, LSE, Nasdaq Stockholm and XETRA. Data: GuruFocus, MacroTrends, company Q4/FY2025 filings (Feb–Mar 2026). EU market caps converted to USD. EV/Revenue on trailing twelve months revenue.
EV/Revenue multiples by size
All 116 companies grouped into five market cap size brackets. Each bar shows the median EV/Revenue; the shaded band shows Q1–Q3; the line shows the full range. Larger companies consistently command higher multiples, reflecting scale, liquidity, and institutional coverage premiums.
Median EV/Revenue
Q1 – Q3 range
Min – Max
US
Europe
The shaded band represents the interquartile range (Q1–Q3): the middle 50% of companies. The lower bound is the 25th percentile (Q1); the upper bound is the 75th percentile (Q3). The whiskers show the full min–max range.
Size matters — more than most founders expect. The data shows a near-linear relationship between company size and valuation multiple. A Mid Cap SaaS company (market cap $1B–$5B) trades at a median of 3,8x EV/Revenue. A Mega Cap company trades at 8,5x — more than double. This isn't just a market sentiment effect: it reflects lower perceived risk, higher liquidity, analyst coverage, and institutional ownership that larger companies attract.
The Mega Cap average of 10,5x versus a median of 8,5x is a clear signal of outlier distortion — Palantir (44x) and a handful of AI-adjacent names pull the average sharply upward. Strip those out and the gap to Large Cap narrows considerably.
For private Benelux SaaS companies — typically in the €1M–€20M ARR range — this index provides the upper reference point. Private buyers apply a 30–50% illiquidity and scale discount to public comparables. A realistic private multiple for a well-performing company in this market is 2x–4x ARR, depending on growth rate, NRR, and gross margin.
— Maarten Kuil, Partner BDO Deal Advisory · April 2026
All 116 publicly listed US and European SaaS companies. Market cap brackets: Micro <$300M, Small $300M–$1B, Mid $1B–$5B, Large $5B–$20B, Mega >$20B. Sources: GuruFocus, MacroTrends, company filings (Mar 31 2026).
Median EV/Revenue by category
Median EV/Revenue multiple per product category across all 116 companies. The bar shows the median; the line shows the full range (min to max). Category groups follow standard public SaaS market classifications.
Median EV/Revenue
Min – Max range
Q1 – Q3 range
The shaded band represents the interquartile range (Q1–Q3): the middle 50% of companies. The lower bound is the 25th percentile (Q1); the upper bound is the 75th percentile (Q3). The whiskers show the full min–max range.
Category group
Companies (n)
Median EV/Rev
Q1
Q3
Min
Max
Security and data infrastructure command the highest premiums — and for good reason. With median multiples of 6,5x and 5,2x respectively, these categories trade significantly above the overall median of 4,7x. The market is pricing in structural tailwinds: AI increases the attack surface (good for security), and AI workloads require clean, governed data (good for data platforms). Neither of these dynamics reverses anytime soon.
Sales & Marketing and Comms & Collab trade near the bottom, at 3,5x and 2,9x. The market is correctly pricing in AI substitution risk: CRM workflows, email automation, and basic collaboration tools are increasingly commoditised by AI-native competitors. This doesn't make the underlying businesses worthless — but the re-rating is structural, not cyclical.
For Benelux SaaS founders: if your product sits in Security, DevOps, or Analytics & Data, you are in a category the market is actively rewarding. If you are in horizontal CRM, marketing automation, or general productivity tools, the exit narrative needs to be much sharper — demonstrable AI differentiation, deep vertical focus, or exceptional retention metrics.
— Maarten Kuil, Partner BDO Deal Advisory · April 2026
Category classification based on standard public SaaS market categories. Computed from 116 publicly listed US and European SaaS companies. Data: GuruFocus, MacroTrends, company filings (Mar 31 2026).
EV/Revenue by Rule of 40 score
All 116 companies grouped by Rule of 40 score. Each bar shows the median EV/Revenue — the relationship between operational efficiency and valuation is clearly visible across brackets.
Q1–Q3 interquartile range
Min–Max
The shaded band represents the interquartile range (Q1–Q3): the middle 50% of companies. The lower bound is the 25th percentile (Q1); the upper bound is the 75th percentile (Q3). The whiskers show the full min–max range.
Rule of 40 = YoY revenue growth % + EBITDA margin %. Computed across all 116 companies. Sources: GuruFocus, MacroTrends, company filings (31 March 2026).
EV/Revenue multiples over time
Quarterly median EV/Revenue multiples from the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index (real weekly data reduced to quarterly intervals), supplemented with the median of our own basket of 116 companies as a Q1 2026 data point (star). Our basket trades at a premium to the BVP index due to selection bias: larger, more established names.
Fed rate hikes compressed growth multiples sharply — a return to 2015–2016 levels by mid-2023.
Q1 2026 — BVP index
3,1x
BVP Cloud Index median following the February 2026 software sell-off. Our basket: 4.8x — higher due to selection of larger, more established names.
What this means in practice. The BVP Cloud Index median is now at 3,1x — near the lowest point in the past decade, last seen briefly during the 2016 correction. The bottom quartile has fallen to 2,3x, meaning weaker SaaS businesses are trading at near-distressed levels. The top quartile stands at 5,2x (BVP Cloud Index), confirming a market that rewards exceptional companies but is ruthless with the rest.
The February 2026 selloff was triggered by fears that AI coding tools (Claude, Copilot) will hollow out demand for traditional SaaS. The market has likely overreacted in the short term — but the structural question is real: horizontal SaaS with limited AI differentiation will face sustained multiple compression. Security, data infrastructure, and mission-critical vertical software are holding up significantly better.
For Benelux founders considering an exit: public multiples set the ceiling for what strategic buyers will pay. At current levels, you should expect private market offers of 2.5x–5.0x ARR depending on growth and retention — not the 6–8x range that was common in 2023–2024.
— Maarten Kuil, Partner BDO Deal Advisory · April 2026
Sources: Aventis Advisors SaaS Valuation Report (Sep 2025 & Jan 2026), Windsor Drake (Feb 2026), SaaS Capital Index (2024), Finerva B2B SaaS Report (Feb 2026), PublicSaasCompanies.com (Mar 31 2026). Quarterly data from BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index (cloudindex.bvp.com). Star (★) = median of our 116-company basket as at 31 March 2026 (4.8x). BVP index Q1 2026 median: 3.1x.
Important context. This data tracks large-cap publicly listed companies and is not directly indicative of private SaaS M&A transaction multiples in the lower middle market. Private Benelux SaaS businesses typically trade at a 30–50% discount to public market comparables, depending on size, growth, retention, and deal structure. This page is for informational context only and should not be used as the sole basis for valuation decisions. Kuoppa provides bespoke valuation analysis based on current private M&A transaction data and comparable closed deals.