BDO Belgium invests in mobility software startup Eurides

BDO Belgium recently announced that it has invested in Leuven-based startup Eurides. The young company has developed a software tool that help firms manage their mobility and commuting solutions. In addition to the capital infusion, BDO will provide advisory expertise to help Eurides refine its tool.

Today’s worker has multiple options for commuting to work: biking, driving, car-sharing, public transit, taxis, among other options. Integrating, combining, managing, and processing their employees’ increasingly complex mobility solutions could be a struggle for Human Resources managers – and even for the employees themselves.

"Employers and employees are ready for a large mobility change,” said Roeland Vanrenterghem, Director of Eurides. “New smart mobility services and formulas are popping up like mushrooms. Think of the different bicycle and car sharing systems or new subscription formulas with traditional public transport companies. Employers want to make these smart mobility alternatives accessible to their employees, but they are faced with the administrative workload for their daily management.”

According to Eurides, the additional administrative work for new mobility services could easily amount to the work of one full-time-equivalent HR employee.

In response, the small, four-person team at Eurides has developed an app – fully customisable to the needs of different firms – to streamline the management and administration of mobility budgets. The user-friendly app allows HR managers and employees to easily manage and track their various transport alternatives and personalised mobility budgets.

In addition to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of mobility services management, the better administered system could aid a firm’s recruitment prospects. According to Fleet Europe, a prospective employee will choose a potential new employer not only on the basis of salary, but also based on how they have integrated alternative mobility solutions into their personnel management.

Enter BDO

BDO Belgium is an accountancy and business advisory firm which has been active for over 50 years and numbers over 600 staff. The firm is part of BDO, the world’s fifth largest accountancy and business advisory network. Seeing the potential in Eurides’ work, BDO decided to invest in order to help improve the software.

BDO will also help refine the app with its world-class expertise in process management, taxation, and payroll administration. The two companies expect the platform to have 20,000 users by the end of the year, while the accounting and consulting firm hopes to offer the mobility services tool to its numerous clients.

"This new partnership allows us to absorb the many questions we get from companies regarding mobility for employees,” explained BDO Belgium CEO Hans Wilmots. “At the same time, we can use our own expertise to further shape and professionalise the solution. In this way we offer our clients an additional solution, and they can focus on their core tasks.”

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