What Softwarebox does

Softwarebox GmbH is a privately held German software reseller and distributor founded in 1992 and headquartered at Lessingstr. 4, Schönaich, Germany. The company operates a B2B model distributing third-party software from major manufacturers including Adobe (Creative Cloud, Substance 3D, Acrobat Pro, Firefly), Maxon (Cinema 4D, Maxon One, ZBrush, Red Giant, Redshift), Rhino (Rhino 8, plug-ins), SketchUp, Microsoft (365 / Office), Chaos (V-Ray, Corona), Enscape, Twinmotion, and specialized vendors (DaVinci Resolve, Ableton Live, Parallels Desktop, GFI MailEssentials, Clip Studio Paint, CorelDRAW, TouchDesigner, Houdini, FrameMaker, Captivate). The portfolio spans creative, 3D/visualization, productivity, virtualization, and email security categories with full-version and update coverage across Macintosh, Windows, and Unix platforms.

Softwarebox serves four primary customer segments: IT specialist dealers (IT-Fachhandel), public sector and government agencies (Öffentliche Auftraggeber / Behörden), educational institutions (K-12 schools and universities), and end customers including creative professionals using Adobe, Cinema 4D, and related creative software. Distribution is delivered through a direct B2B web shop with account management, a dealer channel requiring business registration documentation, and personalized consultation via phone and email. The company operates an internal license management system that proactively alerts customers ahead of rental license (Miet-Lizenz) and maintenance contract expirations, providing a stickiness mechanism at the renewal layer.

Revenue is generated through software resale across multiple license models: subscription/rental (annual Miet-Lizenz), perpetual one-time licenses, education-specific pricing, enterprise volume licensing, and multi-year government contracts. Pricing is not publicly disclosed on a standardized basis and is largely quote-based. Marketing channels comprise the company's own e-commerce storefront as the primary acquisition surface, supplemented by newsletter campaigns and direct sales support. The company has no disclosed parent, subsidiaries, external investors, M&A activity, or leadership changes in the available data, and operates with a team of 1-10 employees focused on the DACH region.

Name

Softwarebox

Legal name

Softwarebox GmbH

Website

https://softwarebox.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Softwarebox GmbH is a German B2B software reseller and distributor founded in 1992, serving IT specialist dealers, end customers, public sector agencies, and educational institutions across the DACH market with a multi-vendor portfolio spanning Adobe, Maxon, Rhino, Microsoft, and other major software publishers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Software Distribution and Resale

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Retail-Computer & Computer Software Stores (5734), Wholesale-Computers & Peripheral Equipment & Software (5045)

akta.pro primary industry

Software License Resale & Optimization (Perpetual/Subscription) (BPAEAOAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

IT Procurement & Sourcing Services (Hardware/Software) (BPAEAOAG), Vendor & Contract Management (Software/Cloud) (BPAEAOAD), PC/Desktop Software Stores (BPAMADAB)

Keywords

• Software distribution
• Software licensing
• IT reseller
• Creative software
• Enterprise software procurement

Headquarters

HQ city

Schönaich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Resale: Revenue generated from reselling software products from major manufacturers including Adobe, Maxon, Rhino, Microsoft, and others. Offers multiple licensing models including subscriptions, rental/miet-lizenzen, perpetual licenses, and education versions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Softwarebox GmbH is a German B2B software reseller and distributor founded in 1992, selling full versions, updates, plug-ins, multi-seat licenses, education versions, subscriptions, rental licenses, and maintenance contracts for software from major manufacturers including Adobe, Maxon, Rhino, Microsoft, V-Ray, Chaos, and others. It serves end customers, IT specialist dealers, public sector authorities, and educational institutions across the DACH region through its own web shop and a registered dealer channel.

Product overview

Softwarebox is a German software reseller and distributor founded in 1992, offering a comprehensive portfolio of creative, technical, and productivity software from major manufacturers including Adobe, Maxon, Autodesk, Microsoft, and specialized developers. Their offering spans Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Acrobat with AI Assistant and Firefly), Maxon products (Cinema 4D 2025 with bundled Redshift, ZBrush, Maxon One bundle), rendering solutions (V-Ray, Corona, Enscape, Twinmotion), 3D modeling tools (Rhino 3D with plugins, SketchUp), video/audio production (DaVinci Resolve, Ableton Live), virtualization (Parallels Desktop), email security (GFI MailEssentials), and specialized applications for architecture, engineering, and design. As a reseller, they provide licensing, distribution, and support for these products rather than developing their own software.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription-based suite of creative applications including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat, sold to designers, creative teams, enterprises, and government agencies via standard, education, and government license tiers.
• Maxon Cinema 4D Professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software with MoGraph, character animation, and physics simulation, resold to 3D artists, motion designers, and studios.
• Maxon One Bundle combining Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Redshift, and other Maxon creative tools, sold to 3D artists, designers, and studios seeking a unified Maxon toolset.
• Rhino 3D (Rhino Modeller) Professional NURBS-based 3D modeling software sold to industrial designers, architects, and product designers, with standard and education license tiers.
• SketchUp Intuitive 3D modeling software for architectural design, interior design, and landscape architecture, sold via subscription tiers (Pro, Studio, Pro Advanced, Go) and education licensing.
• Microsoft 365 / Office Productivity suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook for business and personal use, resold to end customers and IT specialist dealers.
• Adobe Acrobat Pro Professional PDF creation, editing, and collaboration software with AI Assistant features, sold via Miet-Lizenz, Einzelplatz-Lizenz, Enterprise, and Behörden/Government tiers.
• Adobe Substance 3D Collection Collection of 3D design applications including Substance 3D Painter, Stager, and Designer for texturing, staging, and material authoring.
• Adobe Firefly Generative AI platform for creating images and text effects from text prompts, integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud and sold as a standalone Creative Cloud add-on.
• V-Ray (Chaos) Professional ray tracing rendering engine for photorealistic visualization across 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Maya, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, Unreal, and Blender.
• Chaos Corona High-performance photorealistic renderer for architectural visualization with AI-powered ideation features, sold for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D.
• Enscape Real-time visualization plugin for Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, and other BIM tools enabling interactive walkthroughs.
• Twinmotion Real-time 3D visualization software for architects and designers with intuitive workflow.
• Houdini Professional 3D animation and visual effects software with node-based procedural workflow for VFX and animation studios.
• DaVinci Resolve Professional video editing, color correction, and audio post-production software for video professionals and studios.
• Ableton Live Digital audio workstation for music production, live performance, and sound design, sold to musicians, producers, and audio engineers.
• Parallels Desktop Virtualization software for running Windows and other operating systems on Mac, sold to end users and Mac-based businesses.
• GFI MailEssentials Email security and anti-spam solution for business email protection, sold to SMBs and IT dealers.
• Clip Studio Paint Digital art software specialized for comic creation, manga, and illustration, sold to illustrators and comic artists.
• CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Vector graphics design suite for illustration, layout, and photo editing, sold to designers and creative professionals.
• TouchDesigner Visual programming platform for real-time multimedia content, installations, and live performances, sold to studios and interactive designers.
• ZBrush Digital sculpting and painting software for character design, high-resolution modeling, and texture creation, sold to artists and studios.
• Redshift GPU-accelerated biased renderer for Cinema 4D and other platforms with advanced lighting and material capabilities.
• Red Giant Complete Collection of visual effects, motion graphics, and color correction plugins for video post-production, sold to motion designers and video editors.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability10 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• MediaMarkt: Major European consumer electronics retailer that also sells boxed software and select software licenses. Broader incumbent with software retail as a small part of a much wider product portfolio.
• Ingram Micro: Global IT distributor with deep software licensing, cloud marketplace, and reseller enablement capabilities. Comparable business model to Softwarebox but operating across geographies and product categories well beyond Softwarebox's DACH-focused, creative-software emphasis.

Direct peers

• Softwareload: German software download and license retailer offering a broad multi-vendor catalog of commercial software. Closely comparable business model and target audience (German end customers and SMBs seeking downloadable licenses).
• ALSO Group: Major DACH-headquartered IT and software distributor offering multi-vendor licensing, cloud marketplace, and channel services to resellers. Directly comparable to Softwarebox's IT-Fachhandel channel model but at significantly larger scale and broader portfolio.

Regional players

• Computeruniverse: German online retailer for computers, hardware, and software. Comparable as a Germany-based e-commerce software reseller serving similar end-customer and SMB segments.
• Mindfactory: German IT e-commerce retailer selling hardware, peripherals, and software including licenses to consumers and SMBs. Comparable as a Germany-based software retailer with e-commerce-led GTM, though with a much broader hardware focus than Softwarebox.
• Cyberport: German electronics and software retailer (owned by Otto Group) selling IT hardware and software online. Comparable as a DACH software e-commerce retailer.
• Notebooksbilliger.de: Large German IT e-commerce retailer selling hardware and software including license products. Comparable GTM via a web shop focused on German consumers and SMBs.
• Reichelt Elektronik: German e-commerce distributor for electronics, IT, and software. Comparable as a DACH-based online reseller of software licenses to end customers and small businesses.
• Alternate: German online retailer for IT products, components, and software licenses. Overlaps with Softwarebox in retail software distribution to German end customers and SMBs through a web shop.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/swbx

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Softwarebox