• OIG is a retailer and a distributor on the Romanian optical market. The group provides a large variety of eyecare products and services. The group has almost 100 stores operating mostly in shopping malls in Bucharest and main cities in Romania.
• Optical Investment Group was established in 2019 in cooperation with Innova Capital by combining two Romanian optical retail chains OPTIblu and Optiplaza. The company operates under three banners: OPTIblu, Optiplaza, and O51.
• Innova Capital is an independent private equity adviser operating from Poland and investing in majority buyouts in mid-sized enterprises across Central and Eastern Europe. Since its inception in 1994, Innova Capital has invested close to €1.4 billion in almost 70 companies across 10 countries.

The fresh deal details:

The companies claim that the agreement will help to elevate the optical market in Romania for the
benefit of all industry players. It will allow EssilorLuxottica to grow appreciation for eyewear and eyecare solutions among consumers and continuing to deliver its solutions to over 1,800 customers and partners.

Joining the EssilorLuxottica family not only marks a milestone in our journey but also highlights our
collective dedication to excellence and innovation in vision care. It is a privilege to lead a team that is now
joining a global leader like EssilorLuxottica. Together, we are poised to elevate the optical sector to
unprecedented levels, ensuring quality care and exceptional service for our customers across Romania, —Alina Bistreanu, CEO at Optical Investment Group, said.

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2024, pending regulatory approvals and other customary
closing conditions.

The details of the deal

• As stated in the press release, the Companies combine an innovative, scalable, and flexible cloud-based platform with banking services based on Aion’s ECB licence to enable fully end-to-end Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) for both financial and non-financial companies across Europe.
• Aion Bank/Vodeno are able to embed financial solutions, including accounts, deposits, lending and payment propositions, directly into the customer journeys of retailers, e-Commerce marketplaces, fintechs, financial technology providers and banks.

“This investment enables us to leverage Vodeno’s technology and talent to further develop their proprietary technology using it as a sandbox to develop, test and innovate for the benefit of our broader group. The combination of Aion Bank with the integrated technology provides the route to enter targeted client segments and entire markets across Europe, providing additional opportunities to attractively deploy our excess capital,”

Andrea Orcel, Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit, said.

The combined purchase price for the 100% acquisition of the companies is around €370 million.

About Vodeno

Founded in 2018, Vodeno is a leading European Banking-as-a-Service provider that combines its proprietary platform with services based on the ECB banking licence of its partner, Aion Bank.

The Vodeno Cloud Platform is a state-of-the-art, cloud-native core banking system built with smart contracts technology and API-based, integrated with the processes and procedures of a fully-fledged bank.

About FoxEducation

• Founded in Vienna in 2016, FoxEducation offers digital solutions to simplify communication and administrative tasks in the education sector. In addition to the SchoolFox app for schools, the company later introduced the KidsFox platform for daycare centers and kindergartens, and TeamFox for clubs. According to the company, today, over 9,000 institutions in the DACH region use FoxApps.

• In the summer of 2021, FoxEducation became part of the Austrian company GoStudent. After the deal, it grew by over 70 percent while several apps were continuously developed since then — including the innovative payment management tool FoxPay. FoxEducation has been part of the Sdui Group since July 2024.

Acquisition details

With the acquisition of FoxEducation, the Sdui Group intends to establish itself as a market-leading edtech provider in the field of communication and messaging for schools and daycare centers in German-speaking countries.

Following the acquisition of FoxEducation, the Sdui Group serves a customer base of 22,000 educational institutions across Europe.

“The acquisition of FoxEducation by the Sdui Group is a significant win for our customers. We are delighted to join forces to further improve everyday life in schools and daycare centers. Our combined expertise will create an even stronger foundation for innovative educational solutions. This partnership will ensure that our customers receive the best possible tools for their educational needs. By combining our resources, we will offer even more comprehensive and effective solutions than before, from which students, teachers, and parents will benefit equally,”

Philipp Fendt, Co-CEO of FoxEducation, shared.

At the same time, Sdui received an additional €21 million from investors, raising a total of €46 million in a Series A round. Summiteer and HV Capital are the lead investors, joined by new and existing investors like Haniel, Brighteye, Michael Hinderer, and HTGF. The company is investing part of this sum in the acquisition of FoxEducation.

• Founded in 2018, NitroPack has an installed base of over 219,000 websites. NitroPack aims to boost site speed scores and pass Core Web Vitals with caching, CDN, image optimization, critical CSS, and more. Their clients include Tiffany & Co, Stanford University, Instacart, and Reuters.
• NitroPack also claims that since its launch, Page Speed Boost adoption has consistently grown with customers seeing significant improvements in Google Lighthouse scores, which measure Core Web Vitals. These include a 34% average improvement in desktop scores and a 132% average improvement in mobile scores.
• WP Engine is a global technology company thatprovide solutions, tools, and services, including specialized platforms for Managed WordPress and Headless WordPress, industry tailored eCommerce and agency solution suites, and developer-centric tools like Local, Advanced Custom Fields, and more. It serves about 1.5 million customers across over 150 countries.

Plans via the aquisition:

NitroPack was previously introduced to WP Engine customers with the launch of Page Speed Boost, which leverages NitroPack’s proprietary WordPress optimization technology. According to both companies,the acquisition will further strengthen WP Engine’s website performance capabilities, providing customers with innovative features and flexibility for site optimization.

Having sold companies before, we’re highly selective about who we do business with, and our journey with WP Engine has reaffirmed that they’re the right fit for our team, our technology, and our customers. This acquisition is more than a business transaction, it’s the culmination of a relationship built on trust, shared goals, and a mutual commitment to innovation, — said NitroPack co-founder and CEO Georgi Petrov.

Additionally, NitroPack’s Sofia office will become WP Engine’s seventh global office hub. The founders are on the path to launch a new company, focusing on user optimization, business analytics, and performance after their new Navigation AI was featured on Google IO 2024.

• Founded in 2005 in Western Pomerania by Boris Pavlov, Renters.pl is the largest vacation property operator in CEE, with a portfolio of over 4,000 apartments. Enterprise Investors purchased a majority stake in the company in early 2023 and increased its capital, aiming to consolidate the market through acquisitions of local operators.
• Since 2018, the company has been providing its services to apartments in dozens of locations on the coast and in the larger cities. Additionally, in April 2023, Renters.pl acquired 100% shares in Rent Like Home.

Renters.pl acquires 100% shares in Rent Like Home

• Flat Manager was founded in 2016, and manages nearly 600 apartments across 14 Bulgarian cities and resorts, primarily for short-term rentals. Kamen Manev was appointed the company’s CEO at the beginning of 2023 following the spin-off of accommodation platform Flataway.
• Flat Manager’s business travel and corporate accommodation services are utilized by international consulting, IT, and financial companies, embassies, and other organizations.

With this transaction, we not only increase our portfolio, but also receive valuable know-how, experience from the Bulgarian market and fantastic partners. Our approach is based on synergies, we strive to use the good practices of both organizations without imposing our methods and operational processes. We believe that by combining the skills and unique experience of both companies, we will be able to create and impose future trends in our industry in the Central and Eastern Europe region,

says Kamil Kzhizhanovski, CEO director of Renters.pl.

The fresh deal is Renters.pl’s first international acquisition, as the company aims to consolidate the Central and Eastern European (CEE) market, with the support of Polish private equity fund Enterprise Investors. Flat Manager also continue to develop its services while retaining its brand and team.

About Allset

• Founded in 2015 by Ukrainians Stas Matviyenko and Anna Polishchuk and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Allset is a marketplace connecting restaurants and local diners. It provides restaurants with online ordering and contactless dining solutions.
• The business received backing from numerous investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, and has nearly 7,000 restaurant partners, including Joe & The Juice and Charleys Cheesesteaks, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Lennys Grill & Subs, BIBIBOP Asian Grill, DIG. The company works with integration partners, including Olo, Ordermark, Checkmate, Cuboh, and Otter.

Allset has offices in Kyiv, New York and Los Angeles. In August 2022, Allset announced the reduction of its global team by 30%, laying off 29 employees.

Acquisition details

• SoundHound is a global company in conversational intelligence offering voice AI solutions. It delivers its solutions to a range sector, including automotive, TV, and IoT, and to customer service industries via AI-driven products like Smart Answering, Smart Ordering, and Dynamic Interaction, a real-time, multimodal customer service interface.

Allset will help SoundHound bring voice AI solutions to even more restaurants looking to improve operational efficiency. At the same time, the Allset team brings a wealth of marketplace experience and knowledge that will make our bigger vision of a voice commerce ecosystem a reality. Together, we plan to provide dynamic and convenient ways for people to order food and complete a range of other transactions just by speaking naturally,

Keyvan Mohajer, CEO and co-founder of SoundHound AI, commented.

• The acquisition will bring additional restaurant relationships, engineering skills, and marketplace know-how to SoundHound AI as it builds towards its vision of a voice commerce ecosystem that enables consumers to access goods and services through natural conversation.

Alongside continuing the services provided by Allset, it will now have full access to a suite of SoundHound’s voice AI products to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs and drive sales. To date, the amount of deal is undisclosed.

About Digis and Scalamandra

• Digis is an international software development company founded in 2015 by Mykyta Nagatkin. Currently, the company employs 200 people specializing in turnkey product development and staff augmentation services. The company has offices in Cyprus, Odesa, and Bucharest. Among its clients are PwC, BlaBlaCar, HubSpot, Huma, and others.
• Scalamandra was founded in 2020. The company has a team of 15 people, specializing in functional programming and staff augmentation of rare engineers proficient in the Scala programming language.

Acquisition details

This decision was driven by personal investments made by the Digis founder Mykyta Nagatkin in the company in 2023. The main goal of the partnership is to provide functional programming services to clients and assist companies in transitioning to other programming languages as needed.

Mykyta Nagatkin estimates the value of the deal to be between $500,000 and $1 million. Scalamandra’s team joins Digis after the deal under the name Digis Group.

Before the merger, in September 2023, Digis managed to secure funding from the Kyiv-based software development holding InSoft.Partners. Read more about the deal, below:

About Bianor Holding and participants

Bianor Holding is a Bulgarian public company operating several fully-owned specialized software development companies. Among its clients are companies from the telecommunications, technology, and defense industries in Europe and North America. Bianor Holding is led by CEO Kosta Jordanov.

• Prime Holding is a technology consulting company that offers services in product design and prototyping, cloud strategy and DevOps, digital transformation, end-to-end product development, Data Science & Analytics, Salesforce solutions, and mobile application development. It is based in Bulgaria and working with partners from USA, Europe, and Asia 
• Digital Lights is a software company specializing in mobility, enterprise, and space solutions. Digital Lights was founded in 2018, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The deal details

• The proforma consolidated revenue of Bianor, Prime, and Digital Lights for the past year is €28 million, and the combined team exceeds 500 people. This makes Wiser Technology the second-largest IT company listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
• The deal is a merger of the companies already part of Bianor Holding, with Prime Holding and Digital Lights. A significant portion of the transaction will be executed as a share swap, so the founders and the key shareholders of Prime Holding and Digital Lights will become a shareholders in Wiser Technology.

The new, larger organization will enable us to deliver even more value to our clients and to undertake even more strategic projects for them. The more dynamic and larger organization will also offer all our colleagues more exciting and diverse opportunities for professional growth,

Kosta Jordanov, CEO of Bianor Holding, said.

• Following the deal, the companies will continue to operate independently within their existing structures while the group centralizes corporate development, finance, marketing, and sales.
• Additionally, Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Digital Lights, and Georgi Sokolov, CEO of Prime Holding, will be nominated as members of the Board of Directors of Wiser Technology. Kosta Jordanov, co-founder and CEO of Bianor Holding, will serve as CEO of Wiser Technology and will remain on its Board of Directors.

Before the deal, Bianor Holding’s software development company received €6.8 million from BlackPeak Capital. The deal was the second capital raise for the company in less than 12 months.

• Wonder Dynamics was co-founded in Los Angeles, by two Serbians Nikola Todorovic and Tye Sheridan. The startup develops an AI production tool, Wonder Studio, with the aim to allow indie filmmakers to produce blockbuster-level VFX on a lower budget. Wonder Dynamics was previously supported by Horizon Ventures, Founders Fund, and MaC Venture Capital.

• According to Wonder Dynamics, its tool makes the visual effects process more accessible and affordable by developing AI and machine learning tools that allow filmmakers to produce VFX and CGI elements faster and at a significantly lower price point. Wonder Studio currently offers a plug-in that connects with professional 3D tools such as Autodesk Maya and Blender to deliver streamlined high-quality character workflows.
• Autodesk is the American multinational software corporation that provides software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has offices worldwide.

The current misconception is that AI is a one-click solution, and that’s why we are excited to join a company that, at its core, supports the iterative nature of 3D and storytelling. We put a lot of effort into building an AI tool that does not replace artists, but rather speeds up creative workflows, makes things more efficient, and helps productions save costs. We firmly believe that our alignment with Autodesk will only amplify that vision and further push the boundaries of ethical AI and emerging technology in Media & Entertainment,

Nikola Todorovic, co-founder and CEO of Wonder Dynamics, said.

Autodesk’s acquisition of Wonder Dynamics aims to enable more creators to incorporate 3D animated characters into their projects and stories. The goal is to reduce the learning curve and automate traditionally complex and time-consuming tasks. The exact amount of the deal is left undisclosed.

• Founded in 2012, Cin7 provides Connected Inventory Performance – cloud-based inventory management software. According to the startup, it gives product businesses an automated and real-time view of the entire inventory lifecycle.
• Cin7’s products, Core and Omni, natively integrate with over 700 applications. Since founding, Cin7 supported product sellers in over 100 countries, served 8,000+ customers and processed over 125 million orders annually.
• Inventoro was founded in 2020 as a SaaS service to revolutionize the way small and medium-sized businesses manage their inventory. With its algorithmic sales forecasting, businesses can achieve optimal stock levels. Inventoro’s system is powered by advanced mathematics and artificial intelligence to achieve forecast accuracy.

We bonded with Cin7 immediately the day we first met, and this transaction is a natural progression of our proven line of cooperation. The two products together amplify our efforts to help SMB product sellers and manufacturers, ultimately connecting them to one large, efficient supply network while reducing waste and supporting local economies along the way,

Tomas Formanek, Inventoro’s founder and CEO, said.

• The acquisition and integration of Inventoro’s capabilities with Cin7’s platform will extend product seller’s access to its AI technology, and will provide customers to enhance existing inventory and order management capabilities with intelligent prediction and optimization. The deal amount was not disclosed.
• The deal is also the first live exit from Presto Ventures second fund.

We’ve built Presto with the goal of supporting talented tech founders in the CEE region and helping them propel their smart solutions worldwide. We celebrate the sale of Inventoro as an important milestone in fulfilling this vision. It’s yet another confirmation that Czech entrepreneurs have much to contribute to the global technology market,

Premysl Rubes, founder and managing partner of Presto Ventures, which was the first and only institutional investor in Inventoro, said.

In addition to the acquisition, Cin7 also announced the newly appointed CEO of Cin7, Ajoy Krishnamoorthy (ex-Microsoft, Acumatica). 

• Novus was founded in 2020 as a “neobank” that integrates financial services with event-driven positive impact initiatives. It enables users to monitor their carbon footprint and earn cashback for sustainable purchasing choices through its app, where customers can obtain rewards from 130 brand partners.
• In addition, its corporate model allows users to contribute to causes they feel connected to, with a portion of revenue automatically directed to an NGO of a customer’s choice upon the completion of any transaction.

Novus’ mission was to create impact through the lens of finance. Our vision was to empower all consumers and corporations to do well while doing good. With Paynetics’ expertise, we’ll amplify our mission and reach new heights,

Hristian Nedyalkov, CEO & co-founder of Novus, says.

• Paynetics is a licensed provider of end-to-end payment services. It enables non-financial companies to embed finance. The company offers individual and business accounts with dedicated IBANs and UK accounts, supporting SEPA credit, SEPA Instant, FasterPayments, BACS, and some local non-Euro settlements. It also provides virtual and physical Visa and Mastercard cards that are enabled for Apple and Google Pay with customisable branding.

According to the buyer, this deal underscores Paynetics’ commitment to advancing environmental, social, and governance goals while expanding the ESG ecosystem across Europe.

• Rush was founded in 2019 by Kiril Kirilov and Stanislav Stankov. The app aims to help e-commerce businesses, individual merchants, and dropshippers to transform their shipment tracking pages into marketing opportunities. Its integration with Shopify offers a SaaS solution for order tracking and notifications, facilitating post-purchase communication between Shopify merchants and their customers.

• According to the company, it currently serves over 2,800 global brands on Shopify & Shopify Plus. Previously, Rush has been backed by Eleven Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures, including angel investors.

Scaling a successful SaaS requires time, effort, funds, resources, a strong network, brand presence, continuous partner nurturing – and a million other micro steps. While the core Rush team managed to grow both the number of Shopify stores and MRR drastically in the second half of 2023, maintaining the right velocity long-term in a competitive market required a lot more than a small yet committed team,

Mario Peshev, CEO of Rush, commented.

• Shop Circle is a London-based technology company that acquires and grows e-commerce software, boasts a portfolio of over 40 apps within just three years. Additional information on the deal will be disclosed within the next few months.

• Founded in 2022 by Viktor Levchenko and Danylo Orlov, Adsme is developing a technology that uses AI algorithms to analyze and predict the effectiveness of visual and text ads on Facebook and Instagram. These forecasts should help businesses use their advertising budgets more effectively.
• In 2023, Adsme raised a pre-seed funding round from Fidelity Family Office and Andryi Zaikin, founder of the YEP! Accelerator The round was aimed at enabling the startup to expand its operations and grow to $100 million in revenue per year over the next five years.

• Now, the startup gets fully acquired by JobCannon, which was also founded in 2022 by Ukrainians Peter Kolomiets, Alex Molodyk, and Andrii Cherednichenko. Since the launch, it has quickly grown from a small team to a company of 51 specialists with nearly 500 customers. Currently, the startup has headquarters in London.
• In early 2024, the startup raised $500,000 in a pre-seed round from Whitehill Capital, with the backing of the World Bank, to further develop its SaaS product with the implementation of artificial intelligence.

Acquisition details

Although the exact amount of the deal in undisclosed, the deal should not exceed $1 million according to Peter Kolomiets. The agreement will be financed in several tranches. Following the acquisition, Viktor Levchenko will join the JobCannon team as CTO.

The technological synergy of JobCannon and Adsme creates a powerful foundation for the global transformation of the recruitment market. Improving the AI component of JobCannon will increase the effectiveness of our products by making the candidate matching mechanism more accurate. The job tracking tool will significantly help attract new, most relevant customers with minimal costs, confirming that JobCannon is a reliable partner in the field of recruitment,

Andrii Cherednichenko, CMO and co-founder of JobCannon, shared.

Adsme’s AI technology will be integrated into the JobCannon recruiting platform and will improve the algorithm of “matching” candidates and recruiters.

• Intellias serves clients in mobility, retail, financial services, telecom and media, and high-tech sectors that includes product engineering, AI/ML, cloud and DevOps, IoT, data and analytics. The company operates in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Since February 2022, it has opened three new offices in Poland, development centers in Croatia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, entered the markets of India and Colombia.
• The fresh deal follows its first acquisition of Digitally Inspired, a UK-based IT services provider, back in September 2022. The company also claims it cooperates with global brands like HERE Technologies, Rand McNally, TomTom, HelloFresh, and Travis Perkins.
• A year ago, Intellias announced its plans to hire several hundred engineers in 2023 and increase the team to about 3,000 engineers in Ukraine by the end of 2023.

• Founded in 2010, C2 Solutions offers services in development and integration, information architecture and data insights, and firmware & software engineering. The company is also operating in digital health and medical devices technology capabilities.

About the deal

Our goal is to support our clients around the world with technical expertise and deep industry knowledge that allow us to take on and implement projects of any complexity and size. Strategic M&A plays a pivotal role in reaching that goal, as we continue to build on our track-record of robust organic growth,

Michael Puzrakov, co-founder and Executive Chair of Intellias, commented.

The exact amount of the deal is undisclosed, however, it is known that Intellias has acquired 100% of the shares in C2 Solutions. The acquisition will help to expand its offerings across North America, strengthening its Digital Health and Medical Devices capabilities.

• Established in 1994 by Dymitr Kopras and Błażej Nowakowsk, Dimark is a provider of industrial automation solutions, focused on installing Baggage Handling Systems (BHS). The company is headquartered in Złotkowo near Poznań, Poland.
• Dimark’s innovative solutions facilitate seamless luggage movement, optimizing airport operations and enhancing passenger experience. Its expertise has allowed the company to complete numerous projects across 4 continents, with vast majority of revenue realized outside of Europe.

We are delighted to partner with Dimark’s Founders in their pursuit of further international expansion of the business. We are impressed by unique R&D capabilities, commitment to excellence and quality of proprietary hardware and software delivered by the company. After a very successful exit from Inelo in 2023, this is another transaction in technology for logistics sector realized by Innova,

Andrzej Pietrzak, Partner at Innova Capital, who managed the transaction, commented.

• This move solidifies Innova Capital’s commitment to fostering innovation and growth within the technology sector, also marking another milestone for the newest Innova/7 fund, launched in June 2023.

About Innova Capital

Innova Capital is an independent private equity adviser operating from Poland and investing in buyouts in mid-sized enterprises doing business in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its inception in 1994, Innova Capital has invested close to €1.4 billion in almost 70 companies across 10 countries in the region.

In February 2024, the firm also acquired a minority stake in CloudFerro, a Warsaw-based provider of cloud services for space tech companies. 

Stellantis announced the purchase of the AI company on its website on January 24. Following the deal, 44 engineers and developers from CloudMade, who are engaged in the development of AI technologies, will join the Stellantis. CloudMade founder and CTO Jim Brown said they were “extremely pleased” with the deal.

Why does Stellantis need CloudMade?

“The acquisition of CloudMade will accelerate the development of STLA SmartCockpit and help achieve Dare Forward 2030 goals,” Yves Bonnefon, Chief Software Officer at Stellantis, said.

Thanks to this adaptable technology and leveraging our growing connected car parc, we will create intelligent mobility solutions faster and with more flexibility, to delight our customers with in-vehicle and mobile experience personalization.

Services and products will include:

• Predictive maintenance and diagnostics to proactively identify and schedule maintenance needs and provide alerts, thus enhancing vehicle availability.
• Personalized in-car experiences able to adapt to individual preferences such as climate control, driving style coaching and entertainment options.
• Stellantis-specific voice assistant enhanced with custom automotive skills to advise on car features, answer model-specific queries and optimize voice routing.
• Optimized mobile experience and remote commands such as pre-trip planning, battery preconditioning and other proposed activities, based on frequent driver’s behavior.
• Advanced navigation and mapping that will provide up-do-date maps, real-time traffic information and intelligent routing, thus improving the overall navigation experience and help customers reach their destination more efficiently.
• Targeted features for fleet management,which will allow business customers to optimize delivery schedules, reduce travel time and resource utilization, increase productivity and EV performance, and, ultimately, facilitate the monitoring and management of the overall fleet.

The Stellantis auto manufacturer corporation unites such car brands as Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, etc. Before the current deal, Stellantis acquired the Budapest-based software developer for artificial intelligence and autonomous driving aiMotive. The amount of the deal was not disclosed either.

About CloudFerro

• Founded in 2015, CloudFerro provides cloud computing services dedicated to the European space sector, climate research, and science. The company has a team of over 200 employees and its own cloud infrastructure located in data centers across Europe.
• CloudFerro participates in development of key European initiatives in the satellite Earth Observation (EO) sector, building and operating EO data repositories, like Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem. The company has also developed and is operating the CREODIAS.eu platform that enables immediate access to Copernicus EO data, its processing in the cloud, and other related services.
• Over the last three years, CloudFerro has nearly quadrupled the scale of operations in Europe. The company also cooperated with the European Space Agency, EUMETSAT, ECMWF, the German AeroSpace Agency (DLR), the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), and Mercator Ocean.

Details about the deal

• Unfortunately, the exact amount of the share acquisition was not disclosed. However, CloudFerro is one of the largest companies in the Polish space sector with over 170 employees.
• In 2023, the company received over €22 million in financing from the European commission. Its annual revenue is estimated to be $13.6 million per year.
• CloudFerro intends to use the funding to expand its product and services offering, as well as opening up new growth and innovation prospects.

The acquisition was made by Innova Capital, an independent private equity adviser operating from Poland and investing in buyouts in mid-sized enterprises doing business in Central and Eastern Europe. Since the launch, Innova Capital has invested close to €1.4 billion in almost 70 companies across 10 countries. Earlier, it acquired Romanian-Belgian EMI Group.

• Although the amount of the deal is not disclosed, Forbes Ukraine suggests it could be several hundred thousand dollars. According to several market players, the cost is equal to the amount of investment in the website and branding, i.e. approximately $500,000.
• Founded in 2020, OVO finds itself on the brink of survival after Russia started its full-scale invasion in Ukraine. Still, the startup has some potential that Silpo can use to improve its range and positioning in the fresh produce category. Experts believe that this acquisition could be an ideal platform for tests and improvements in the field of delivery, especially in the Fresh category — fresh vegetables and fruits.
• The supermarket chain could have also bought the startup to bring its team onboard, as they are trained in food delivery and can show results shortly.

In June 2021, AIN.Capital reported on OVO’s closure of $500,000 seed round from TA Ventures and other investors at a pre-money valuation of €3 million:

• Following the deal, Ciklum plans to accelerate its development in the North American market, strengthen its expertise in the development of leading digital products, as well as expand its geographic presence.
• Currently, Ciklum has more than 4,000 developers and specialists, the Infogen team comprises about 350 people.
• Infogen, which has its main customer base in the western part of the USA, will bring Ciklum its experience in developing solutions for the retail and financial industries. In particular, virtual (VR) and augmented (AR) reality technologies.
• Unfortunately, the exact amount of the deal has not been disclosed. The acquisition is part of Ciklum’s strategic development plan, which envisages further strengthening their role in the global digital innovation market.

• Shkolo was founded in 2016 by Lyubomir Vanyov, Miroslav Dzhokanov, Simeon Predov, and Alexander Stoyanov. The startup aims to minimize bureaucracy and increase parent and student engagement via its administrative and management software platform for schools.
• The software provides a space for communication between teachers, students, and parents, including digital class register learning content, testing materials, and other features. More than 1,800 educational institutions in Bulgaria use their services already.
• Shkolo was acquired by British Juniper Education, backed by the UK-based investor Horizon Capital. The company works with over 14,000 schools in the United Kingdom, offering data management, student progress tracking, school websites, human resource, and financial management, school governance, educational resources, and continuing education services, including teacher and staff training.
• The deal amount was undisclosed. Following the acquisition, Shkolo will be adapted to the UK’s market as an integrated solution with leading market technologies for schools. The deal will also enable the British company to facilitate its foreign expansion.

• Luigi’s Box is a leading Slovak technological company that provides e-retailers with intelligent product search and recommendation. Their solution also helps companies understand how to use customer purchasing behavior data in order to increase sales.

• The company was co-founded in 2014 by Gejza Nagy (CEO), Tomas Kramar (CTO), and Michal Barla (CPO). Their technology is used by more than 3,500 e-commerce sites, their biggest clients include Alza, Acer, Benu, Electro World, Kosik.cz, Telefónica O2, and Under Armour.

“This opportunity has come at the right time in the evolution of Luigi’s Box. We’ve been working with Persoo on the acquisition for several months. We have a similar company culture, product, and vision for the future of e-commerce. We’re excited to have the Persoo team join us, bringing additional industry expertise and strengthening our position in Europe as we work towards new goals together. On the client side, the transition will be as seamless as possible. We’re confident that clients of both Persoo and Luigi’s Box will benefit from us joining forces, as they will now get an even better product,”

Gejza Nagy, co-founder and CEO of Luigi’s Box, commented.

About the deal

• The exact amount of the deal is undisclosed. However, the approximate amount is several millions euro.
• The deal also marks the first full exit for the Czech VC fund Presto Ventures, as well as another successful exit for Lighthouse Ventures.

“We backed Persoo in 2019. Since then, the company has undergone many changes and developments that have propelled it forward – in terms of product, as well as the start of a successful foreign expansion. We’re happy to have played a part in their growth and believe that together with Luigi’s Box they will carry on this momentum across Europe,”

Roman Nováček, partner of Presto Ventures, commented on the acquisition.

• After the acquisition, Persoo will be fully incorporated into Luigi’s Box.

• IAI Group is one of the leaders in Polish e-commerce that has been on the market since 2000. The company is developing online sales services offered on the basis of application rental, like the e-commerce management system IdoSell and reservation system and channel manager IdoBooking.
• AtomStore is an e-commerce platform for large and medium-sized online stores that allows them to flexibly manage your offer and quickly scale sales. The system operates in the SaaS Enterprise model and is dedicated to each business model – B2C, B2B, and omnichannel.

“We are strengthening the group’s position on the competitive market by including AtomStore. This is a great and well-managed team that achieves success, especially in the area of ​​servicing large clients. AtomStore is a perfect piece of the puzzle that fits our strategy and values,”

Michał Paschalis-Jakubowicz, CEO of IAI Group, commented.

• The deal was supervised by Filip Berkowski on behalf of MCI Capital, which owns 51% of IAI shares. Following the deal, AtomStore will continue to operate within the IAI Group as an independent entity, retaining its unique character and offer, as well as its own brand.
• The amount of the deal is undisclosed, however it will result in an increase in the Group’s GMV by about €462 million (PLN 2 billion), which will aid with strengthening its leading position on the market.

The exit details

• Internet Ventures is the second venture capital fund in the MCI Capital Group, next to Helix Ventures Partners, with funds from PFR Ventures. In addition to the exit, the fund has announced the end of its operations generating a positive rate of return.
• Focus Telecom is the last company in the Internet Ventures FIZ portfolio. The fund owned 28.7% of the company’s shares, which were sold for around €6.6 million (PLN 28.8 million).

About Focus Telecom

Focus Telecom is a Warsaw-based software developer specializing in business communication and automation. The company provides systems for managing communication with customers in various channels (including telephone, e-mail, chat, SMS, social media) and customer service tools (so-called Customer Experience as a Service ), as well as offering a telephone exchange in the cloud.

Currently, Focus Telecom employs over 120 people. The company also claims its model and approach to business allows users to drop the costs of buying and maintaining expensive hardware and dedicated software.

• Founded in 2015 by Oleksandr Tereshchenko, Andy Steuer, and Robert Nash, Helpware is a BPO company, offering a comprehensive range of services, including customer support, AI operations, back office, content moderation for companies across multiple industries.
• Helpware has a global team that is headquartered in Lexington, KY. In addition, the company operates from 18 locations in 10 countries, mainly Ukraine, Mexico, the Philippines, and Germany.

“The addition of eTean marks a key step in our ability to operationalize emerging technologies. As always, we differentiate by focusing on measurable aspects in customer and consumer experiences. We now have all the right resources to both consume and deploy the best in DevOps and Emerging Tech/AI in a way that preserves our industry-leading client, member, consumer, and customer satisfaction measures,”

Oleksandr Tereshchenko, COO of Helpware, commented on the deal.

• eTeam is a digital product agency established by two Ukrainians Oleksandr Menzheres and Victor Grytsai. The agency offers solutions in software development, modernization, cloud solutions, big data/AI, and technology consulting. eTeam is focused on different types of businesses, from VC-backed startups to global companies.
• The exact amount of the deal is undisclosed. This acquisition will be used for development in Helpware’s Digital Business Transformation initiative to empower a future where technology and human expertise are combined to create unparalleled customer and employee experiences.

• UltimateSuite was founded in 2020 by Robert Samanek and is headquartered in Prague. The company provides AI-powered, business process analysis that helps companies boost their operational efficiencies. Companies like Société Générale, Generali, Nielsen, Volkswagen, Financial Services are among its clients.
• ServiceNow is a major player with a market cap approximately $140 billion. The company offers a cloud‑based platform and solutions to help digitize and unify organizations. ServiceNow expects to close the acquisition of UltimateSuite in Q1 of 2024. The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

“Task mining is key to revealing a more accurate picture of how people work. With UltimateSuite, we are extending ServiceNow’s ability to help customers easily automate workflows and drive productivity,”

Eric Schroeder, vice president of NowX product management at ServiceNow, commented.

• The acquisition aims to strengthen ServiceNow’s process mining solutions, bolstering automation and capabilities to help customers uncover bottlenecks and drive operational efficiencies.
• The deal is also the first ever exit for the Czech VC fund Tensor Ventures, who was one of the two investors in the company, alongside Michal Poplar-Rostoc, and the sole VC fund involved in this acquisition.

• Avenga is a comprehensive software development and consulting platform for funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and funds managed by Cornerstone Investment Management, L.P.
• The company focuses on digital transformation and development of specialized software and has more than 3,800 specialists. Its headquarters is located in Germany, but it has offices in 31 countries around the world with a large offices in Ukraine (over 1,500 employees) and in Poland.
• Thanks to the acquisition, KKCG plans to strengthen its position in the European technology market.

KKCG is an investment and innovation company specializing in the lottery and gaming industries, energy, technology, as well as real estate. It was founded by Czech entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist Karel Komarek. KKCG employs more than 10,000 people in 36 countries around the world and has a total value of assets under management of more than €8 billion.

Avenga is an international IT company founded in 2019 by the merger of the Ukrainian-American CoreValue with IT Kontrakt, Sevenval, and Solidbrain. The company offers services in strategy development, customer experience work, development of solutions, and other software products. In 2021, Avenga announced the addition of Perfectial to its platform. After the merger, the number of specialists in Avenga grew to more than 3,500.

• Founded in 2014, Telemedi is a provider of a digital healthcare platform combined with in-house doctors and a network of physical clinics. The company’s clients are both private individuals, large corporates, and insurance companies. Its team cosists of 100 non-medical staff and over 700 in-house doctors. Additionally, the company has an integrated network of 2300 clinics and laboratories.
• Telemedi provides a medical platform that includes telemedicine, in-person visits, imaging diagnostics, and laboratory tests, and operates in 13 languages. In 2017, Black Pearls joined a pre-seed, and then also a €5.5 million Series A round for Telemedi.

“I am pleased that with Mavie we have a partner to strengthen our base, offer new services and bring our know-how to other markets. I would also like to thank my investors and partners helping me build the company. Aleksander and the team of Black Pearls VC were always there whenever I needed to look at something from a different angle or challenge an idea. At the same time, I always felt they trusted my decisions, which is very important for a founder.”

Paweł Sieczkiewicz, CEO of Telemedi.

• Black Pearls VC is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on tech companies from the Baltic Sea region. It invests are pre-seed and seed with a typical ticket of €100,000-€1 million. According to Black Pearls, it achieved a 15,2x Cash on Cash return on its initial pre-seed investment in Telemedi. With an overall return of 3,5x (incl. follow on investments).
• Its partner responsible for the deal was Aleksander Dobrzyniecki, who also joined the company Board of Directors most recently serving as Chairman. In September this year, Black Pearls VC announced exit from Solwit with 3.16x return on investment.

• Since 2020, Mavie develops, establishes, and drives new business models and solutions in the health care sector. Mavie focuses on prevention and rehabilitation for B2C and B2B clients. The fresh deal marks its sixth exit since 2021.
• Mavie and Telemedi plan to work together to achieve sustainable growth providing accessible healthcare to their customers in CEE. They will focus on expanding the portfolio and exploring new markets.

• Founded in 2017 in Sydney, Australia, Katzion has rapidly grown into a leading provider of specialized services for the automotive industry, with a strong focus on technology solutions in CRM consulting, digitization, automation, and connected systems.
• This strategic agreement will allow GlobalLogic to expand its capabilities in the mobility sector and strengthen its presence in Australia/Asia Pacific, Spain, and the Middle East. Furthermore, Katzion will enable GlobalLogic to offer new service lines, focusing on direct customers and helping automotive companies prioritize customer engagement throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle.
• Under the agreement, Katzion will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of GlobalLogic, continuing to operate with its existing management and staff. The terms of the transaction remain confidential.
• The U.S. company GlobalLogic was acquired by Hitachi in March, 2021 for $9.6 billion. The company has big offices in Poland, Ukraine, Croatia, Germany, Slovakia, and Romania. Last year, GlobalLogic acquired Fortech, a software engineering services company based in Romania.
  

The co-founder of Mergewave Capital, which is the exclusive investment M&A advisor of Euvic Group in Ukraine, told AIN.Capital the news.

• 7Devs was founded in 2016 in Kharkiv. The company specializes in the development of web and mobile solutions. The company has about 50 employees and works with clients from the USA, Canada, and Europe.
• The representative of the Polish company noted that such acquisitions can help companies grow and increase capitalization, which becomes especially relevant in difficult market conditions.
• The exact amount of the deal was not disclosed.
• Deepening its presence on the Ukrainian market, Euvic Group plans to make several more investments in 2024.

Earlier in 2023, Euvic Group acquired shares of Ukrainian Artkai and Exoft, as well as several other undisclosed companies.

• Hostersi was founded in 2007 by Radoslaw Kuczera and Tomasz Dwornicki, Damian Rutkowski. It specializes in IT services such as server solutions architecting, cloud computing implementation, DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, containers, and servers management for banks, advertising agencies, startups, and public institutions. The company has also partnered with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
• Founded in 2017 by Maciej Balsewicz, bValue Growth is a growth equity fund focused on high-growth and profitable companies in the CEE region. Recently, it announced a pre-seed investment in Vidoc Security Lab.

“The investment in Hostersi fits into the strategy of bValue Growth, which involves supporting mature companies with dynamic growth and the potential to quadruple in value. We look for ambitious entrepreneurs who have proven the market potential of their products or services, have achieved initial successes, and are ready to take their companies to the next level. We provide them with capital for further growth, but also operational support and advisors who will help them fully utilize it,”

Maciej Balsewicz, Founding Partner at bValue Fund, stated.

• The fresh deal marks the first major transaction for bValue Growth, the third fund of bValue – which targets investments of €5-15 million in small and medium-sized enterprises. With a capital of approximately €80 million, the fund is approaching its final close.
• The founders of the company, remain as partners of the company and together with bValue, they aim to achieve an annual revenue of €50 million in the coming years.

Nevertheless, the KSE is predicting a post-war boom, the number of deals and transaction value returned to their long-term average. AIN.Capital shares the key findings of the report.

How many deals were made?

• The number of deals involving Ukrainian firms grew exponentially (+1,032%) in the period 2000-2014. Deal activity has spiraled downwards since the first Russian invasion in 2014, and it hit rock bottom with the second invasion in 2022.
• The average deal value for the period was 33 million Euro. At its height, with 464 deals announced in 2013, this means the Ukrainian M&A market could be worth something in the region of €15.3 billion per year.
• The M&A market boomed between 2000 and 2014, but the war with Russia led to a sharp decline in 2022, with just 39 deals worth €46.8 million, which is worth only 1% of 2013’s results. The average deal price was €1.29 million, well below the long-term average of €33 million, and only 2.5% were low-risk deals.

Who were the buyers?

• In the sample, Ukrainian firms are the acquirer in 45% of cases, the target in 90% of cases, and in 40% of cases, Ukrainian firms are both the target and the acquirer. This shows that Ukrainian targets are not only attractive to their peers, in Ukraine, but to international buyers too.
• The willingness of foreign acquirers to acquire Ukrainian firms has dropped significantly after 2014. In 2013 there were 265 foreign acquisitions, but in 2022, there were only 5. This represents a 98% drop in investment.
• Cyprus (332 deals), Russia (142), and the Netherlands (88) made the most acquisitions in Ukraine in the full period. Post-2014, Cyprus (126) and the Netherlands (26) remain active players, but Russia, obviously, feel to the 9th position (7).
• Ukrainian acquirers made 238 international deals, in our sample. The Czech Republic (150) and Russia (25) received the lion’s share of the investment, followed by direct neighbors, like Poland, Belarus, Hungary, and Romania (15), and neighboring countries Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, and Serbia. There were only 10 acquisitions in Western countries.
• In 2022, 39 deals were closed, 33 of them (86.8%) had Ukrainians among the buyers, and 30 deals were purely domestic.

“Despite the current situation, we expect an inevitable post-war boom in M&A activity. In the meantime, Ukrainian companies should shift their focus to becoming more active buyers, diversifying their investments and prioritizing acquisitions in the relevant industry to reduce unnecessary risks. Despite the difficulties, Ukraine remains open for business and focused on the future,”

The Kyiv School of Economics concludes.

• CallPage was founded in 2015 by three Ukrainians: Ross Knap, Andrey Tkachiv, and Sergiy Butko, who moved from Ukraine to Poland at different times and for different reasons.

• It is an ecosystem of solutions that increase sales and foster relationships between the company and its customers. Its flagship product is a contact widget that allows you to track and call back people visiting the company’s website within just 28 seconds of entering the website.
• It is used by 1,500 large and medium-sized companies in over 50 countries. It cooperates with InPost, Docplanner, OLX, Rankomat, Medicover, UPC (currently Play), Vectra, and others.

“The acquisition of LiveCall is another significant step in our pursuit of domination in the global contact widget market. CallPage is increasing its share more and more quickly, in particular, on the American market. The quick contact tools are perfect for the current market situation, in which, contrary to expectations, the possibility of quick contact with a real person is still enormous,”

Ross Knap, co-founder of CallPage, comments.

• The acquisition of LiveCall was financed from CallPage’s own funds. As a result of the deal, the company acquired the rights to the LiveCall brand and domain, as well as a database of several hundred customers, including Booksy, Seat, Itaka, and Tui Poland.
• After the merger, the brand of LiveCall will disappear from the market.
• CallPage also announced further acquisitions, aiming to conquer the American market.

AIN.Capital reminds that in January 2022, CallPage was taken over by SaaS Labs, becoming part of the JustCall entity. To date, the company has raised nearly €4.3 million (PLN 20 million) from investors

• Grafik was founded in 2014 by Karolina Dolas and Grzegorz Galos as an AI-driven work time planning solution for large and dispersed enterprises and organizations. The company claims its platform optimizes personnel costs and simplifies scheduling via SaaS model solution. In addition, Grafik Optymalny streamlines and digitalizes all of HR processes, such as time tracking, holiday management, and remote work coordination.
• Grafik Optymalny is currently used by hundreds of companies, helping to plan the work time of nearly 100,000 employees. The platform works in various industries, including retail, ecommerce, hotels, hospitality, manufacturing, and many others.

“Over nearly a decade of development, Grafik Optymalny has become a key tool for work management in many companies and has gained a significant market share. For some time, we have been looking for a partner who will help us in long-term development and in building an international position in HR tools,”

Karolina Dolaы, founder and CEO of Grafik Optymalny, said.

• Everfield is a pan-European group of B2B software companies. Potential candidates are suppliers of proprietary software solutions with recurring annual revenues of between €2 and €8 million. In November 2022, the company acquired Blue Bridge Technologies, a Latvian healthcare software developer.

“Following acquisitions in the UK, Latvia, Germany and France, with this first acquisition in Poland we are also establishing our presence in the B2B software market in Central and Eastern Europe,”

Henning Schreiber, head of acquisitions at Everfield commented the deal.

• As part of a “buy-and-grow” strategy, Everfield aims to fully acquire companies’ shares. Everfield investment strategy does not consider ever exiting from acquired software companies and is focused on long term growth.
• The amount of the fresh transaction is not disclosed, but it’s known that Everfield acquires 100% of Grafik. The company’s founders will retain their current roles.

• Agena Tech is a leading Sweden-based technology development company developing digital solutions, mobile applications, and tech talent sourcing. Agena Tech has a strong reputation in the Nordic region with industry-leading clients like Roche, Åhlens, Samhall, PwC, Carlsberg, OKQ8, CDLP, and EYTYS. 

“Adding Agena Tech to the beleven family amplifies our capabilities and enables us to offer an even broader range of services and solutions to our clients. We’re not just growing in size; we’re growing in our potential to lead and innovate,”

Roman Nazarkevych CEO of beleven, comments.

• This acquisition has manifold implications for both companies:
  • Expanded Portfolio: beleven gains a powerful extension to its existing offerings by incorporating Agena Tech’s technology, business expertise, and talent pool.
  • Robust Client Base: The acquisition will benefit clients from both companies, offering a more comprehensive suite of solutions that meet diverse technical and digital needs.
  • Strengthened Position in the Nordic Region: Agena Tech’s well-established market presence and reputation in this region will serve as invaluable assets for Beleven’s growth strategy.

“This goes beyond a mere acquisition; it’s a collaborative venture that offers businesses in the Nordic  region a reliable tech ally. With our combined strengths, we aim to deliver digital products and solutions  on schedule, within budget, and with the level of quality and innovation essential for success,”

Mikael Bäckström, Partner and Founder of AgenaTech, says.

About beleven

beleven is a Lviv-based technical and mobile developer known for its innovative solutions and market presence. It was founded in 2013 by Roman Nazarkevych and Rostyslav Zvarych, who developed the company with their own resources. Currently, beleven has a 20+ core team working from Lviv.

According to Roman Nazarkevych, the company has around 10 clients, apart from which the team is developing its own application — Chytanka, which has over 6,000 users. At the moment, beleven is actively adding a new publishing house to the app. The company aims to continually evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.

• Launched in 2015, Cubicure GmbH develops, produces, and distributes system solutions for the industrial 3D printing of polymer parts. The company is best known for its hot-lithography technology, with a heating and coating mechanism.
• This allows for the processing of highly viscous resins to produce extremely durable and temperature-resistant polymers. Such materials are used in the direct production of dental aligners, as well as dentures and other devices.
• Align Technology designs and manufactures the Invisalign System, an aligner system, iTero intraoral scanners and services, and Exocad CAD/CAM software. The company claims its technology building blocks enable enhanced digital orthodontic and restorative workflows to improve patient outcomes and practice efficiencies. Over the past 26 years, Align has helped doctors treat over 15.7 million patients with the Invisalign System.

“Align and Cubicure have worked together for many years and our successful collaboration has contributed to breakthrough technologies and innovation in direct 3D printing,”

Srini Kaza, Align senior vice president of product research and development, commented.

• The acquisition of Cubicure will strengthen Align’s existing intellectual property portfolio and know-how in direct 3D printing of appliances. Integration with Cubicure will also extend and scale Align’s printing, materials, and manufacturing capabilities for our 3D-printed product portfolio.

• Launched in 2019, InoBat specializes in the research, development, design, manufacturing, supply, and recycling of electric batteries. InoBat focuses on the automotive, commercial vehicle, motorsport, and aerospace sectors. 
• The startup is supported by investors and partners such as Rio Tinto, Amara Raja, Ideanomics, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank. In addition, InoBat has signed declarations of intent with the governments of Spain and Serbia to build EV battery plants, but those agreements are not final.
• Gotion High Tech was founded in May 2015. It specializes in the development and manufacture of power batteries for energy vehicles, energy storage applications, power transmission, and distribution equipment. The company has cooperation with Volkswagen, Tata Group, Vinfast, and Jinko.
• The acquisition is the first such major investment by a Chinese battery maker in a European startup. Its main goal is to accelerate R&D across the battery value chain including scaleup, structuring and financing templates.

“Our partnership with Gotion High Tech heralds a new era in significant value creation through collaborative win-win alliances, helping to close the gap between Asian battery leaders and the rest of the world. GIB will nurture and grow InoBat‘s strategic premise and ethos for customized bespoke R&D to deliver safe high performance batteries and green energy solutions,”

Mr. Marian Bocek, co-founder and CEO of InoBat, added.

• The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the investment and InoBat’s valuation.

• Bitdefender is a security tech company that provides advanced threat protection to both business and consumer customers, headquartered in Bucharest, Romania. The company is best known for its Bitdefender antimalware software.
• According to Bitdefender, the solution has over 20,000 qualified partners and resellers across 170 countries. And as of August 2021, it was ranked 5th globally among Microsoft Windows anti-malware application vendors by market scores.
• Horangi is a leading SaaS cybersecurity company that offers product innovation and technology designed to protect organizations in Asia. The Horangi services portfolio will complement and extend Bitdefender’s Managed Detection & Response (MDR).

“This is an exciting new chapter for Horangi. Our strategic initiative with Bitdefender aligns perfectly with our founding vision for the company – to protect businesses from cybercrime. Together, there are enormous opportunities ahead for our business and for our customers,”

Paul Hadjy, co-founder and CEO of Horangi Cyber Security, comments.

• The acquisition enables Bitdefender to help customers address the struggles with multi-cloud adoption head-on and is a significant milestone in the security solution strategy, paving the way for continuing innovation.

• Founded in 2007 in Austria, Seekda gained market leadership in the alpine region with convincing products. The company provides a full-featured toolbox that supports hoteliers in achieving their distribution goals. According to the company, tore than 40% of hotels and vacation rentals in Austria have used Seekda.

“We are very proud of the success of our Seekda business, and are confident that Valsoft is the right home to drive future growth for the Seekda team and customers. This transaction highlights Kognitiv’s continued focus and commitment to our loyalty platform and allows us to accelerate the delivery of innovative AI-native applications that drive profitable revenue growth, and customer lifetime value for our global brand customers,”

Tim Sullivan, Kognitiv’s CEO, says.

• Valsoft is a Canada-based company specialized in the acquisition, management, and growth of vertical market software companies. The company is committed to drive innovation, growth, and success across its diverse portfolio of over 70 companies operating in various industries.
• With the acquisition, Seekda is well-positioned for continued growth and evolution as part of Valsoft’s portfolio of software companies.

• Founded by Andrii Bas, Sasha Chepurnoi, and Oleh Kryvytskyi, Plai.team develops a people and performance management tool. It is designed to empower HRs and managers to drive employee growth and achieve business results efficiently and in a healthy manner.

“Joining forces with Peoplelogic is a game-changer for us and the industry as a whole. With the combined expertise and resources, we can create an unparalleled solution that helps companies accelerate growth and unlock the full potential of their teams. Together, we will revolutionize how organizations approach people management in the future of work,”

Andrii Bas, founder of Plai.team, commented the acquisition.

• By seamlessly integrating with Peoplelogic’s organizational success platform, Plai.team will enable businesses to align their teams, set strategic goals, track performance, provide continuous feedback, measure, and analyze critical data — all within a unified ecosystem.

“We are thrilled to welcome Plai.team into the Peoplelogic vision. This strategic acquisition allows us to combine our expertise and provide companies with a comprehensive solution that accelerates growth and drives success in the future of work. Together, we are taking a big step towards our ultimate goal of quantifying the impact of the investments that companies in the digital age make in their people, processes, and technology,”

Matthew Schmidt, founder of Peoplelogic, said.

• Both Peoplelogic and Plai.team called the deal a strategic acquisition, however they did not disclose the exact amount of the deal.

• Founded in 2016 by Zbigniew Wantuła, Jędrzej Anisiewicz, and Arkadiusz Terpiłowski, Primetric develops a tool for employee workload management and financial planning. The tool can track and forecast people’s workload and projects’ profitability in a single platform.

• Primetric’s tool is currently used by over 17,000 users in 15 countries. In less than four years, the company has grown its team to over 30 employees, with its MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) growing at an average rate of over 190% each year.
• During the time of growth, the startup was supported by three Polish investment funds: Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder, the company’s first investor, later joined by Unfold.vc and WP2 Investments. Now, the startup caught the US giant’s attention with its success in the European market.

“BigTime shares our vision, mission, and values. The goal of both our companies is to provide customers with top-notch tools that support the growth of service-oriented businesses. By joining forces, we will be able to offer a comprehensive range of functionalities and even better service quality,”

Zbigniew Wantuła, Managing Partner at Primetric, comments.

• BigTime is a popular American platform for time tracking, project management, and invoicing. The acquisition will empower Primetric to reach a larger market and offer current users new functionalities. Simultaneously, the deal will also increase BigTime’s market share and enable it to attract new clients.
• After the merger, both platforms will reach over 100,000 users in more than 2,800 service firms worldwide. The acquisition will not disrupt the normal operations of the companies and the founders of Primetric will become key operational partners in the combined company.

• Audioteka is a Warsaw-based mobile and multi-language audiobook application for smartphones/tablets with a dedicated audiobook car platform. The company offers audiobooks in 9 languages in 23 countries.
• In September last year, Wirtualna Polska became the majority shareholder of Audioteka, owning 60% of the shares. 
• As part of the current transaction, Wirtualna Polska Media concluded an agreement with a natural person and KMB Fundacja Rodzinna for the purchase of shares in Audioteka for a total price of approximately €16.3 million (PLN 72.25 million).
• A conditional agreement on the purchase of further shares by Stacja Służew from another natural person for the price of €156,000 (PLN 0.69 million) also came into force. At the same time, the group also started the purchase of subscription warrants issued by Audioteka, authorizing their conversion into shares, for the total price of €385,000 (PLN 1.7 million).

“Audioteka is a well-managed product in the rapidly growing category of audio services. Thanks to this acquisition, we diversify the revenues of Wirtualna Polska Media with another, next to WP Pilot, subscription service, which is used by over 200,000 people,”

Jacek Świderski, President of the Management Board of Wirtualna Polska Holding, comments.

• Founded in 1991 by Pawel Marchewka, Techland is a video game developer, distributor, and global publisher for all leading platforms, including PC, Sony PlayStation, the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One X. Techland is best known for the Dying Light franchise. Before that, Techland developed four games for the Western Call of Juarez series, and also the first Dead Island, as well as its sequel Dead Island Riptide. 
• In 2022, Techland generated a profit of $186 million. Currently, Techland is working on an open-world fantasy action RPG, which was not officially titled yet. The game was described as an epic narrative adventure with an exotic open world to be explored and a focus on the story. 
• Shenzhen-headquartered, Tencent is a world-leading internet and technology company that develops products and services to improve the quality of life. Tencent also publishes video games and offers a range of services such as cloud computing, advertising, fintech, and other enterprise services.

“Teaming up with Tencent will allow us to move full speed ahead with the execution of the vision for our games. We have chosen an ally who has already partnered with some of the world’s finest video game companies and helped them reach new heights while respecting their ways of doing things,”

Pawel Marchewka, the CEO and founder of Techland, commented the deal. 

• Techland will retain full ownership of its IPs, and Pawel Marchewka will continue serving as the studio’s CEO.

UPD: The possible amount of the deal is estimated to be around $1.6 billion (PLN 6.3 billion), according to the Polish publication Bankier.pl. The deal can be the largest merger/acquisition of 2023 on the Polish market, if the estimation is true.

Noltic as part of InSoft.Partners

• Noltic was founded in December 2017. It is a consulting and development agency that offers a range of salesforce services. Noltic’s clients are mainly located in Europe and the United States. The company has offices in Lviv, Poltava, and Warsaw. According to the company’s website, the team consists of 70 specialists.

“We have been known with Igor and Vlad (Noltic’s founders) for about seven years, since our days at CoreValue. The guys have built a very successful niche company. And since then, we have invested a lot in building our own ecosystem, accumulating knowledge and skills in lead generation, and transforming the service business. Now, I hope, we will be able to combine all the experience we have gained to get 1+1>2. Moreover, we can already see positive results of the ecosystem approach in other companies,” says Vitalii Gorovoyi, founder of InSoft.Partners.

“We were looking for options for establishing a sales process. We have our own best practices, but we were planning to systematize this process in the course of growth. Our colleagues recommended Vitalii, who, among other things, had built lead generation at other companies. After several meetings, we realized that we had a common vision, and Vitalii would strengthen our team where we needed it most,” adds Noltic CEO and founder Igor Petrovych.

Exit from Artjoker and current valuation

• InSoft.Partners is a niche player in the B2B service market. The company buys stakes in tech companies and then gets involved in their operations to help them grow. InSoft.Partners specializes in building an effective lead generation system, financial architecture, scaling companies, and conducting M&A transactions.
• Since the beginning of the full-scale war, InSoft.Partners has invested in six IT companies: Inoxoft, Linkup Studio, Indeema Software, Artjoker, Forbytes, and Noltic.
• InSoft.Partners has also reported that it exited Artjoker. The exit took place in favor of the founder Roman Katerynchyk. According to the holding company, the parties completed all the tasks agreed upon at the start of the cooperation and, following the agreements, carried out the buyback process.
• With the latest changes, the total number of employees in the InSoft.Partners ecosystem is about 600 people, and the market capitalization, based on the company’s pessimistic estimate, is about $40 million. The current InSoft.Partners ecosystem includes five companies: Inoxoft, Linkup Studio, Indeema Software, Forbytes, and Noltic.
• The holding’s completed projects include: Core Value (exit in the interests of OakTree Capital Management and further transformation into Avenga), ITernal Group (exit in the interests of UST Global), Artjoker, Cloudfresh, ucode IT academy.

In the spring of 2023, InSoft.Partners changed its business model. It is no longer an investment company that makes money on exits. Now it is Software Development Holding — InSoft.Partners has created a new outsourcing company of a holding type. Vitalii Gorovyi, the founder of InSoft.Partners, previously told AIN.UA more about this and the Ukrainian IT outsourcing market in general.

• Established in 2018 in Wroclaw, Vestigit is a cryptography company tracking and countering illegal content distribution. The company is a pioneer in the field of A/B content watermarking based on artificial intelligence technology. The solution can help regain and secure the intellectual property of Vestigit’s customers.

“The problem of unlawful content distribution faced by streaming services continues to grow. According to forecasts, platforms of this type may lose up to 113 billion dollars by 2027. The financial aspect demonstrates the high need to create effective solutions to combat illegal sharing of content, allowing to protect the revenues of creators and distributors. For this reason, we decided to implement the “Beyond DRM” strategy at Redge Technologies. The Vestigit solution fits perfectly into it,”

Przemysław Frasunek, CEO at Redge Technologies, comments the deal.

• In early June 2023, Redge Technologies acquired additional shares from the RKKVC fund and from the founder of Vestigit, taking control of the company. The buyer is a leading provider of OTT technologies in the CEE and MENA regions, present on the market since 2007.
• Although the amount of the deal is undisclosed, in July 2021 Redge Technolgoies made a €450,000 (2 million PLN) investment in Vestigit. Back then, the round was conducted with the former owner of the company, RKKVC .

• Apptio is an American company that develops enterprise apps designed to assess and communicate the cost of IT services for planning, budgeting, and forecasting purposes. The company co-operates with over 1,800 companies across 20 offices around the world, mainly in Europe.
• In Summer 2021, the company opened a Product Innovation Centre in Krakow. According to Apptio, the office is designed to attract the most diverse and high-caliber technology talent in software development, product design, and product strategy. Currently, it employs over 120 people and plans further expansion.

• The acquisition will be made from the current owner the PE firm Vista Equity Partners, which paid $1.94 billion to take the company private, back in 2018.
• IBM expects the acquisition to come to a close in the second half of 2023, pending regulatory and other approvals.

• Hoverstate focuses on creating digital strategies, mobile apps, web development with deep expertise in health insurance, pharmaceuticals, life sciences. One of the main directions are AppDev, Service Design/CX/UX, UI, DevOps and Infrastructure, Big Data, AI/ML, RPA, in the fields of healthcare, media, education, financial services.
• The company has expertise in process automation and is a key partner of Pega, a well-known low code platform. Such expertise will strengthen SoftServe’s offering on the global market: the company’s clients will now have access to accelerated cloud-based processes and efficient development with the help of data and analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
• Hoverstate has offices in the US and Italy.

According to AIN.Capital, the value of the deal can range from $12 million to $18 million. This information is based on available indicators on the number of employees, investments, and information on the deal, which the editors managed to find. The activity of growth in the last 3 years and the dynamics of financial indicators can affect on the assessment, but the editors of AIN.Capital could not find these data.

“We made the decision to acquire Hoverstate because we are constantly looking for new business opportunities. I am sure that this agreement will have a positive effect on the development of the company,” 

Yaroslav Lyubinets, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of SoftServe commented. 

According to SoftServe, the acquisition of Hoverstate will help strengthen and expand the company’s expertise in healthcare, finance, biotechnology, transportation, and logistics.

AIN.Capital reports that the acquisition is an opportunity to gain access to the company’s existing customers and expand the network of contacts to find new ones.

• euShipments is an international courier and fulfillment service for online stores. Currently, euShipments has a network across 27 European countries and operates 12 fulfillment center. In January 2023, the company acquired a majority stake in Croatian fulfillment and logistics company Pick & Pack.

• Founded in 2019 by Stefan Popa and Iosif Chesca, Helpship is a fulfillment service provider, based in Oradea. The company claims it processes over 80,000 online orders every month.
• The acquisition will help to strengthen euShipments’ position and services in Romania and Central Europe.
• The deal also allows customers of both companies to benefit from a joint logistics network, enter new markets, and take advantage of new business opportunities. In particular, Helpship will add a new service to its portfolio – international e-commerce deliveries from e-store addresses.

“A new, exciting chapter in the development of Helpship begins and together with my entire team we are ready for the future challenges. Now, being part of the euShipments.com’s group the main goal behind this strategic partnership is our company to become the most competitive fulfillment provider in Romania, fully specialized in international eCommerce growth and delivery solutions. This way all Helpship clients can grow faster than ever in Romania, the region and all over Europe,” 

Stefan Popa, founder and CEO of Helpship commented. 

• Stefan Popa, CEO of Helpship will continue to run the company. Svetlozar Dimitrov, CEO of euShipments and Vichren Bisset, CCO of euShipments will be joining the Board of Directors of Helpship.

• Founded in 1989, EBS is a manufacturer and R&D company in the security market, specialized in the production of security communicator devices. The offered solutions cater to a diverse range of clients, from households and small businesses to world-renowned security agencies and government institutions.
• EBS technology complements Alarm.com’s software solutions. Integrating with EBS smart communicators will expand Alarm.com’s support for legacy security control panels that are used worldwide.

“By leveraging the strengths of both EBS and Alarm.com, we are confident in our ability to deliver superior security solutions, support our service providers, and build on our competitive edge in the global market, all while collaborating with the experienced and knowledgeable teams at EBS,”

Aydin Bolkar, Vice President of International Operations at Alarm.com, comments.

• Alarm.com is the leading platform for the intelligently connected property. The platform integrates with a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) devices through the apps and interfaces. The solution is currently used by millions of consumers and businesses.
• Following the deal, EBS will continue to operate independently and the current management team at EBS will lead the business from its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. It will also maintain a manufacturing facility in Elk, Poland known for its production capabilities.

• spaceOS was founded by Marley Fabisiewicz and Maciej Markowski in 2017 and provides a holistic management system, which covers both the management and user side. Because of a modular structure, spaceOS is ready to integrate with a variety of platforms to meet the specific requirements of any workspace infrastructure.
• Founded in 2011, Equiem offers tenant services for office buildings. Equiem has offices in Australia, the USA, the UK, and The Philippines. Its clients include Dexus, Lendlease, Knight Frank, Nuveen, and Brookfield. Equiem is used by 170,000 people across 5.5 million square meters of commercial real estate worldwide. 
• The acquisition will help to expand Equiem’s footprint to over 25 countries and grow the suite of features available on its Equiem One platform, increasing revenues by 20%. The merger includes investment from Hitachi Ventures, BeyondBuild, German developer MOMENI, Caleus, and others.

“Equiem and spaceOS share a vision of leveraging technology to help shape the future of offices and workplaces. With this merger, we are now uniquely positioned as a global leader, to continue to transform commercial real estate for the better and make it future-proof,”

Marley Fabisiewicz, founder of spaceOS

• spaceOS founders will join Equiem’s executive leadership, as Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Growth Officer, respectively. The combined company will continue to operate under the Equiem brand. 

• Innova Capital was established in 1994 with the objective of investing in controlling stakes of mid-sized companies in the CEE region. The firm is currently based in Warsaw, Poland and has 134 investments, with total value of €1.4 billion, in its portfolio.
• NETOPIA Group is the newest addition to the portfolio. It is one of the longest-established payment service providers (PSP) in Romania, which plays a key role in the local online payments market since 2003. The company currently provides services to more than 25,000 merchants and is responsible for processing 25% of the country’s online card transactions.

“NETOPIA Group has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation, driving advancements in digital payments and mobile marketing. With the help of this investment and Innova’s knowledge, we look forward to leveraging our extensive expertise to pioneer groundbreaking solutions in the evolving landscape of the payment industry,”

Antonio Eram, co-founder and CEO NETOPIA Group, comments.

• The acquisition of the majority stake in NETOPIA Group is the first deal to be executed within the framework of the Innova/7 fund. The first close of which was announced in August 2022 with a result exceeding €220 million.
• The transaction will be completed after obtaining the approvals from the relevant authorities.