Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: investment

  • Gympass acquires Andjoy in Spain and 7Card in Romania

    Gympass acquires Andjoy in Spain and 7Card in Romania

    Gympass, the world’s largest corporate wellbeing platform, acquired Andjoy in Spain and 7Card in Romania to expand in Europe.

    7Card is a leader within the Romanian wellbeing market, with over 1,000 corporate clients and more than 600 wellbeing partners.

    Andjoy is a corporate wellbeing platform founded in Barcelona in 2013, that has grown to include 2,200 wellbeing partners

    Andjoy has more than 400 corporate clients, such as Glovo and Iberdrola and new partners, including CET10, Aiguajoc and many others in the Catalonia region.

    Andjoy was considered one of the first corporate wellness platforms in Spain.

    As part of the acquisitions, Gympass and Sodexo will also sign a commercial agreement.

    This will enable Sodexo to offer the Gympass platform to its clients across the globe, with an initial focus in Spain, Romania and the UK.

    Gympass secured a further USD 220m in funding in June 2021, with the latest acquisitions follow hot on the heels of the acquisition of Trainiac, a leader in 1-on-1 online personal training, in December 2021.

  • A&M Capital Europe acquired the European pet care platform Pet Network

    A&M Capital Europe acquired the European pet care platform Pet Network

    Pet Network, the leading omni-channel pet care platform in South-Eastern Europe, is present through multiple brands in Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Bulgaria.

    The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

    Pet Network was created in 2018, after TRG bought and merged three pet supplies businesses present across South-Eastern Europe.

    The oldest of these businesses is Pet Centar, which opened its first store in Croatia in 1999 and has expanded since then in Serbia and Romania.

    The other two businesses acquired by TRG in 2018 are Animax, operating in Romania, founded by Cristian Ludovic Pop, and Mr. Pet, active in Slovenia.

    Over the past year, Pet Network also expanded to Bulgaria and now operates more than 150 physical stores across five countries, as well as various e-commerce channels.

  • Romanian platform Global Database targets EUR 1.4 million on SeedBlink

    Romanian platform Global Database targets EUR 1.4 million on SeedBlink

    Global Database, an aggregator of private and public company information, aims to obtain a funding of 1.4 million euros on the crowdfunding platform SeedBlink.

    SeedBlink campaign started today, August 26, the round being supported by two private investors with experience in IT.

    Funds will be used to develop the solution, invest in marketing and hire sales specialists for the US and the UK.

    The company is to sell a package of up to 10% of the shares, being valued at €17 million.

    Information about over 120 million companies, structured and aggregated from 195 countries

    Global Database gathers information from over 120 million companies worldwide, providing structured and up-to-date data.

    The platform includes contact details about companies, financial reports, who are the final beneficiaries, credit risk information, daily alerts.

    Most of the information is gathered from official sources, combined with public sources and partnerships with strategic data providers to provide an overview of companies globally.

    The platform offers public information to over 350.000 users/month and has over 100 active corporate clients.

    Global Database was created in 2015 by Nicolae Buldumac, a specialist with ten years of experience in sales&marketing in Great Britain and Vitalie Aremescu, a specialist with 13 years of experience in IT in the Republic of Moldova.

    The company has clients including American Express, Dupont, Vodafone, British Council, WWF, Salesforce, SAP, Edendred, 3M, Embassy of Canada, Embassy of Spain, Getty Images.

    For this year, the company estimates revenues of $ 1.2 million compared to $ 0.7 million last year.

    By 2020, Global Database has grown organically from year to year, with no foreign investment. The project was funded exclusively by the founders.

  • Houston, a learning platform for remote teams, gets a 200.000 euros investment

    Houston, a learning platform for remote teams, gets a 200.000 euros investment

    Houston, the developer of a learning platform for remote teams, has attracted a 200.000 euros investment.

    Lumus Investments and Overkill, a Latvian investment fund and four of the company’s first Beta clients, are the main investors.

    The management plans to obtain financing of approximately 0.35 – 0.5 million euros this summer.

    The four Beta customers have invested 100,000 euros. Houston currently has Beta customers from Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, UAE.

    Houston is the developer of a learning platform based on an algorithm that measures how employees’ behavior changes once they have gained new knowledge.

    The company was launched in 2020 by Robert Blaga (37 years old), a specialist with over ten years of training experience in companies such as Michelin or Brainiup.

    Over the years, he has been involved in projects with teams from over 40 countries.

  • Undeterred by COVID-19, dealmaking in the CEE region remained steady

    Undeterred by COVID-19, dealmaking in the CEE region remained steady

    The disruption caused by COVID-19 to CEE’s M&A market was short-lived as dealmaking returned to the fore in the second half of the year, according to Mazars.

    Deal value in the CEE region rose by 11% to €49.2bn, compared to 2019, even as volume dropped by 16% to a total of 648 transactions.

    When not including Russia, the region’s largest economy, recorded deal value figures in 2020 saw a 28% year-on-year increase.

    International buyers continue to be attracted to the region, accounting for 49% of total deal value – investing €23.9bn – in line with previous years.

    Fabrice Demarigny, global head of financial advisory at Mazars, highlights how ”on a global level, the CEE picture is one of stability. The region continues to attract a strong and steady flow of inbound investment from around the world.”

    Private equity remained extremely active in 2020, with total disclosed buyouts in the region seeing a 40% year-on-year rise to €3.9bn.

    Private equity exits also fared well, with total disclosed value coming to €8.1bn, an 11% rise in 2019.

    Four countries continue to dominate the market

    The top four countries in deal value terms remained the same as in 2019 – Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria.

    The region’s biggest market, Russia, accounted for four of the year’s ten largest transactions.

    Meanwhile, the biggest deal of the year took place in Austria, the most affluent of the CEE markets.

    This deal saw Austrian oil company OMV increase its stake in petrochemicals company Borealis from 36% to 75% for €5.712bn.

    The tech sector flourishes amidst the pandemic

    The highest number of inbound deals to the CEE region were technology-based, hitting a total of 57 deals worth €2.5bn – a year-on-year rise of 12% by volume, and 34% by value.

    In terms of inbound deal value, energy and utilities remained in the top spot, accounting for €9.1bn – a 20% rise year on year.

  • 3DLOOK announces $6.5 million Series A round

    3DLOOK announces $6.5 million Series A round

    3DLOOK announced that it has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding, led by Almaz Capital with participation from TMT Investments and Zubr Capital.

    The investment brings the company’s total fundraising to date to $11.2 million. 

    The new funds will be used to expand 3DLOOK’s US leadership team and establish new R&D labs in the US and Western Europe.

    3DLOOK’s mobile camera–based solutions provide personalized fit and size recommendations for online shoppers and body data intelligence that brands can use to create better-fitting clothes.

    The technology uses a patented combination of computer vision and 3D statistical modeling to instantly measure the human body using just two photos.

    Brands that use 3DLOOK’s solutions have seen 30% decreases in return rates, while increasing conversions 4 times year over year.

    Tailored Brands and 1822 Denim are among the global fashion retailers that are using 3DLOOK’s solutions to drive down apparel returns and increase conversion.

  • Romanian health-tech start-up Medic Chat targets € 250,000 on SeedBlink

    Romanian health-tech start-up Medic Chat targets € 250,000 on SeedBlink

    Medic Chat, a Romanian telemedicine platform that offers online medical advice from specialty doctors, targets a €250,000 investment on Seedblink.

    More than a third is already secured by Cleverage VC and an Angel Investor from the US. The listing took place today, March 9th.

    Medic Chat has strategically prepared the investment round by ensuring an anchor investment of €75,000 from Cleverage Venture Capital.

    The start-up has also obtained a €12,500 de euro investment from Jay Chowdhury, Angel Investor from US, with whom the team has collaborated in the past.

    In its three years of activity, the platform has demonstrated market validation through an accelerated growth rate, reporting 12X higher revenue in 2020 compared to 2019, thus exceeding €56,000.

    Currently, the app has over 50,000 user accounts and a network of over 200 doctors, covering 40 medical specialties.

  • iFactor is the first Romanian company to be listed on Seedrs

    iFactor is the first Romanian company to be listed on Seedrs

    iFactor receives its seed funding in a round led by ROCA X and becomes the first Romanian startup to be listed on the London-based equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs.

    The amounts raised will support the company in developing its services, as it aims to offer European private investors access to a new class of investment assets.

    iFactor plans to heavily scale-up its operations in the next two years, starting from Romania, its expansion plans target markets such as the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

    iFactor is the first European company to use a hybrid business financing model, it has been granted permission from the National Bank of Romania to include private investors in the business circuit, thus enabling them to easily invest in SMEs.

    The fundraising strategy has been designed to attract multiple types of parties such as early-stage institutional supporters, (Roca X & Smart Impact Capital) business angels and strategic partners.

  • Total CEE investment volume at over €9.7 billion in 2020

    Total CEE investment volume at over €9.7 billion in 2020

    The total CEE investment volume in 2020 reached a total of over €9.7 billion, representing an almost 32% decline from 2019, JLL reports.

    Poland continued its dominance with 57% of total CEE volume and notably a strong year in logistics. Q1 was very active with roll-over deals from 2019 but as the year progressed volumes declined compared to previous years with a country total of €5.6 billion.

    This is a 30% decline from 2019, but still the 3rd highest volume on record.

    Czech Republic registered the largest deal in its history with the Residomo transaction of €1.3 billion

    Excluding this transaction, the Czech market saw a 52% decline in volumes. Investor demand remains strong for core product but there were limited core office transactions – notably only Churchill Square and Rustonka, both in Prague.

    Investment volumes declined by 32% in Slovakia

    In Slovakia, despite a very promising start to the year and expectations of 1bn, investment volumes actually declined by 32% as a result of Covid-19.

    Investor demand remains in strong for core and core+ industrial product as the occupational market recovered in Q4 2020.

    CEE Investments Volumes / Data gathered by JLL

    In 2020, prime yields saw some upward pressure in comparison to 2019, with the most visible decompression in the office and retail sectors. The logistics sector is expected to see some small compression as 2021.

    In Hungary there was a smaller decline of 25% with a market dominated by the office sector representing 65% of investment volume.

    The previous high dominance of domestic capital in 2019 has been reversed back in 2020 to an equal split between foreign and domestic capital.

    Romania, the only country in the region to show an increase

    In Romania, 2020 started with a large pipeline of transactions; several high-profile office deals were in advanced stages of negotiation.

    While the outbreak of COVID-19 had a significant impact on the investment market, the total transaction volume for 2020 represented a significant increase from 2019.

    The only country in the region to show an increase, driven mainly by the large NEPI Rockcastle portfolio acquired by AFI.

  • Polish Enterprise Investors to acquire a majority stake in Software Mind

    Polish Enterprise Investors to acquire a majority stake in Software Mind

    Polish Enterprise Fund VIII, a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors (EI), will invest EUR 25 million in Software Mind, a Polish provider of software development outsourcing services.

    Software Mind is a Polish software company founded in 1999.

    It develops comprehensive (end-to-end) software solutions for high-profile clients that include PE-backed financial and technological industry leaders as well as Silicon Valley unicorns.

    Among Software Mind’s many clients are companies from the fintech, healthcare and high-tech sectors from the United States, Great Britain and Scandinavia, as well as the four largest mobile operators in Poland and a few that are based abroad.

    The management team is led by its original founder and represents a well-balanced mix of commitment, seniority and technical expertise.

    The company operates out of four development centers across Poland: in Kraków, Rzeszów, Warsaw and Bielsko-Biała, and employs 370 IT professionals.

    Software Mind sales reached EUR 15 million after first nine months of 2020.

  • EBRD delivers record investment in response to coronavirus pandemic

    EBRD delivers record investment in response to coronavirus pandemic

    European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) responded to the coronavirus pandemic with record investment of €11 billion in 2020 through 411 projects in 38 countries.

    This represents a 10% in annual business investment relative to 2019, when the Bank provided €10.1 billion to finance 452 projects.

    In addition to its own funds, the EBRD also directly mobilised €1.2 billion from co-investors at a time when the global economy was suffering its most severe slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

    The Bank continued to concentrate its support on the private sector, which accounted for 72% of total EBRD investment last year.

    Due to the urgency of addressing the Covid-19 crisis, in 2020 the share of green investment fell to 29 per cent after 46 per cent in 2019. 

  • Dreamdata secures $4.4 million in seed funding

    Dreamdata secures $4.4 million in seed funding

    The round was led by InReach Ventures and Crowberry Capital, and counted with participation from existing tech investors Seedcamp, Futuristic.vc and Preseed Ventures.

    ”Investing in Dreamdata was an easy choice to make. The B2B Revenue Attribution Platform category is in its infancy, and we believe that Dreamdata has the potential to be the global category leader.”

    Roberto Bonanzinga, co-founder of InReach Ventures

    Dreamdata brings to market a solution designed specifically for B2B. A product that replaces disjointed semi-solutions and helps understand the full value of actions.

    The solution pull together all relevant data by introducing a smart on-site behavioural tracking script and integrating all relevant commercial data from CRM, Automations, and Customer Success tools.

    Dreamdata integrates about every commercial tool and traffic source, so customers’ teams aren’t forced to use only certain vendors or suites.