Fifteen years of software licensing, done properly.
Arco Software is an authorised software licensing distributor — headquartered in Singapore, operating globally, serving individuals, IT professionals, and resellers since 2011. Built on three things that have never changed: genuine licenses, transparent activation, and support that stays with you past the first install.
A licensing business with a documentation problem to solve.
Three things make Arco different from every other place you could buy a software license.
Genuine licenses, every time
Every licence is traceable to an authorised source. Microsoft products carry our Microsoft Partner Network status; everything else comes from authorised European and global distributors — with documentation available whenever a procurement team asks.
A real knowledge base
This industry is full of cryptic error codes and edge cases nobody writes down. We’re building the resource we wished existed — clear, searchable guides that actually solve activation problems. Free, public, no login.
Support that stays
Most license resellers vanish after delivery. We answer email and WhatsApp seven days a week, 8:00–21:00 CET, and treat post-purchase activation issues as part of the product — never a complaint to be deflected.
Fifteen years, two jurisdictions, one mission.
Arco was not built in a straight line. The road from a Hong Kong founding to a Singapore-headquartered operation included a few decisions that defined who we became.
Hong Kong, seed capital, and a partner who knew the market
Arco was founded in Hong Kong in 2011 — capitalised by the founder’s prior software work, joined by a co-founding partner with deep operational knowledge of the licensing market. The first year was Microsoft-only: Windows and Office licenses for small businesses across Asia and Europe. The model was simple: source through authorised channels, document everything, treat every customer like the first one.
From one vendor to five categories
Over seven years the catalogue expanded methodically — never adding a vendor we couldn’t source through authorised channels. Antivirus and security joined first, then creative software, utilities, and VPN and server licenses. By 2018 the catalogue had grown past 200 products across five categories, serving customers in more than 40 countries.
Hong Kong’s environment shifted. We moved.
In 2019, Hong Kong’s regulatory and operational climate made it the wrong long-term home for an international software business. Relocating a company across jurisdictions meant rebuilding banking relationships, reassigning every distribution agreement, and absorbing months of legal cost — while continuing to deliver to existing customers.
We chose Singapore: stable, neutral, with strong contract enforcement and proximity to the markets we already served. The transition consumed most of the year. It was the hardest chapter of the company’s existence — and every system, supplier relationship, and process today carries the discipline that year forced on us.
Stability, and a quiet hedge against the next 2019
From the Singapore base, operations stabilised quickly. We expanded direct servicing into European and North American markets — and, having lived through one jurisdictional shock, built operational redundancy into the structure so the business can keep serving customers through any future disruption.
Becoming the resource we always wished existed
Fifteen years of selling licenses taught us that this industry has a documentation problem: customers hit the same activation errors, the same version mismatches — and almost nobody writes the answers down properly. So we are. The Arco Library is the next phase: a content-authority platform that solves real licensing problems, alongside the distribution business that funds it.
I started Arco in 2011 with capital from software I had built myself, a partner who knew the licensing market inside out, and a stubborn belief that this industry deserved better than what most of it was offering customers.
Fifteen years later, I’ve stopped being surprised by how often customers write to us astonished that someone actually answers. That low industry baseline is a strange privilege — it means the bar for being remarkable is simply doing the work properly: source the licenses through real channels, document the real solutions, answer the real messages.
The 2019 move out of Hong Kong nearly broke us. It also proved that a company which survives a hard year is a company you can build something serious on. That’s the company we’re building now.
Four principles, applied without exception.
Real channels only
Every licence in our catalogue is traceable to an authorised source. No grey-market keys, nothing we cannot stand behind in writing if a procurement team ever asks for documentation.
Write it down properly
If a question is asked twice, it deserves an article. The Arco Library is built on this principle — every recurring activation issue, error code, and edge case becomes a permanent, searchable resource. Free, public, no login required.
Built for everyone, audited regularly
Every page targets WCAG AA — high-contrast text, semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility. Software licensing should not require perfect eyesight to navigate.
Support past the sale
Most resellers consider the transaction the end of the relationship. We treat activation as part of the product — answered seven days a week by people who actually know the licenses they sold you.
From individual buyers to global resellers.
Individual users
Home users and freelancers buying genuine licenses for personal devices — with full activation support if anything goes wrong.
IT professionals & MSPs
Consultants, system integrators, and managed service providers handling licensing for client portfolios — VAT invoicing, bulk pricing, fast turnaround.
Wholesale partners
Resellers and IT distributors operating at scale across European and global markets, structured through our three-tier Partner Program.
Fifteen years in. Just getting started.
Browse the catalogue, explore the Library, or — if you operate at scale — apply to our partner program.