Cegeka acquires Swedish data science consultancy Solver
IT services provider Cegeka has acquired a majority stake in Solver, a Swedish consultancy specialised in data science and business intelligence.
The deal sees a team of around 25 employees join the Belgian-origin IT services group. Cegeka already had a small presence in Sweden, and now adds offices in Stockholm, Gälve and Falun to its existing hub in Linköping.
“Solver has been an established player in the Swedish business intelligence and data engineering market for over 15 years,” said Kristel Demotte, Global Vice president Data Solutions at Cegeka.
With Solver on board, Cegeka will be able to accelerate its growth in Scandinavia, which Demotte describes as a market with “a lot of growth potential”. He added, “now more than ever, companies are looking for guidance from experts with experience in data and artificial intelligence.”
Main reason for this booming demand: the rapid rise of data driven working. “Data is the most valuable asset an organisation can have in today's business environment,” said Demotte. “Companies whose thoughts and actions are driven by data have an edge over the competition – they can offer their customers a more individual and efficient service and can generate new revenue and optimise operational costs.”
Solver caters to clients’ data science needs with a range of services, including developing algorithms and more advanced artificial intelligence / machine learning models, building data warehouses, developing business intelligence solutions and dashboarding. The firm specialises in the Microsoft stack and is Microsoft Gold Partner for Data Analytics.
Meanwhile, Cegeka will also seek to ‘export’ Solver’s expertise to other markets it is active in (Cegeka has over 5,000 employees in 10+ European countries). Demotte: “Solver has plenty of data experience to draw on.”
Denis van Nunen, Managing Director of Cegeka in Sweden, added that when it comes to data and artificial intelligence, Sweden is regarded as a frontrunner in the field. “The market is mature and as a result Swedes lead the pack in the data science space. For Cegeka this fundament provides the ideal platform to further grow and professionalise our Data Solutions business line.”
Cegeka was founded back in 1988 as an IT company for a mining operation in Belgium. Fast forward over three decades and the firm ranks among Europe’s largest home-grown IT services groups – while still being family owned (investor Gimv owns around 24% of the shares).
In November last year Cegeka acquired Rime IT in Luxemburg and SecurIT in the Netherlands.