Edegem, 23 April 2021 — Geo Square, the Belgian expert in geoinformation services, is to join forces with investment company Bencis to further realise its strategic growth plans, strengthen its position in the Benelux and expand to other Western European markets.
Along with its subsidiaries (including Suivo, Geo Solutions, Aptus, Freebility and Localyse), Geo Square is a leading ecosystem in GIS (Geographic Information Systems), IoT (Internet of Things), Google Maps, Track & Trace and Mobile Workforce. After several years of strong organic growth, Geo Square is collaborating with an experienced partner in order to help accelerate its ambitious plans for the future. Investment company Bencis will support Geo Square in consolidating its position in its domestic markets and continuing to focus on European growth.
Bencis is an independent investor that has supported entrepreneurs and management teams in realising their growth ambitions for over 20 years, both organically and through acquisitions. The participating interest in Geo Square is an investment by Bencis VI, Bencis’ sixth fund through which it raised €575 million by the end of 2020.
Geo Square achieved sales of around €30 million in 2020 and collaborates with over 750 clients, over 150 of which are in the Netherlands. Geo Square is primarily active in sectors including government, utility, large industry, construction, transport and service companies, where it offers a complete range of services, products and solutions.
We see Geo Square as one of the most comprehensive and relevant players in the field of geoinformation services.
The Geo Square management team, also made up of co-shareholders, remains the same and is enthusiastic about this new collaboration. Dirk Lambrechts, Founder and CEO: ‘We currently hold a strong position in our domestic market and we are convinced that we can duplicate this success story outside of Belgium. In order to realise these ambitions, we have found a strong party in Bencis that will help us take these growth steps with the right knowledge and resources. It was also important to us that we found a partner that recognises and maintains our unique ecosystem and innovative, dynamic culture. Bencis will use its network and resources for further organic growth and at the same time they will support us in a selective buy-and-build strategy.’
Benoit Graulich, Managing Partner at Bencis: ‘We see Geo Square as one of the most comprehensive and relevant players in the field of geoinformation services. They have extensive knowledge and expertise in the latest technologies, as well as their own products and solutions. We are delighted to be able to reinforce them and help them grow, both in the Benelux and in Western Europe. We are convinced that, through our expertise and international presence, we can offer the necessary support in order to further explore these markets.’
Together with the Cronos Group, Geo Square has been on a great journey of growth over the past 17 years. Based on a broad portfolio of services and solutions connected with Location Intelligence and IoT, Geo Square has grown from a two-man team to almost two hundred employees. Dirk Deroost, Co-Founder of The Cronos Group: ‘We are very proud of what Geo Square has achieved within our group in recent years. We see it as a great testament to our unique business model that a company like Geo Square is ready to spread its wings to Europe and take the next steps. We will be following their further growth story with great interest and wish them every success in this new step towards internationalisation with Bencis.’
