True to its ambitious expansion program, Unifiedpost went public in September of last year, raising a staggering €175 million in fresh capital. We immediately started investing this capital by announcing three major acquisitions: 21 Grams, BanqUP and Akti. The deals were closed in the first week of January. Thanks to these acquisitions, we’re ready to help you make the digital leap.
One thing is for sure, 2020 will go down in history as the year the rules were rewritten. A dangerous virus forced us to live, learn, and play differently, and we started to work and do business very differently. A digital leap was necessary to make these radical changes possible, particularly at such short notice. At Unifiedpost our mission is to help you make that leap.
Going public
Our mission is to make administrative and financial processes simple and smart for you. But it doesn’t stop there. We are continually expanding and optimising our offer with new products and services, both through organic growth and new acquisitions.
Unifiedpost has pursued a focused buy-and-build strategy since 2012, when we made our first acquisition. Our ambitious expansion program led to the company going public in September of last year, raising a staggering €175 million in fresh capital. We immediately invested a part of this capital by announcing a first wave of acquisitions: 21 Grams, BanqUP and Akti.
Acquisitions create value for our customers
These acquisitions have strengthened our position as a leading European FinTech company. The help us continue the development of our one-stop-shop platform and expand our activities from fifteen to twenty European countries. The acquisition of Swedish company 21 Grams specifically, has allowed us to gain a solid foothold throughout Scandinavia.
Since 2004, 21 Grams has been a leading provider in the Nordic countries of mission-critical outbound mailing solutions and optimised postage and parcel services. The company has extensive multi-channel digital and paper invoice delivery capabilities and provides integration with a wide variety of ERP solutions to the whole Nordic region. Over 80 million documents are processed over the 21 Grams platform on an annual basis. With the acquisition of 21 Grams, we welcome 70 new staff members at Unifiedpost.
As a result, 21 Grams adds considerable value for our customers. For example, 21 Grams’ digital solution for processing outgoing invoices can be seamlessly integrated into your business. In the past this solution was targeted mainly at large businesses, but by adding Unifiedpost’s SME experience and expertise to the mix, Scandinavian SMEs can now more easily make the leap to digital invoicing.
Neo-bank capabilities and e-commerce
The same is true of our recent acquisition of BanqUP and Akti in our home market of Belgium. BanqUP — a renowned specialist in banking services — developed an application that allows you to map future cash flow, taking into account all incoming and outgoing invoices and bank balances. That way you know how to best finance your business and take advantage of the solutions available in the market.
BanqUP will enable us to bring more open banking and data analytics capabilities to our SME customer base. With the integration of BanqUP’s capabilities, the Unifiedpost platform will have quick access to open banking ecosystems enabling analysis of combined banking and document data which can be used for cash flow forecasting and other purposes.
The acquisition of Akti means we can also help you to develop your e-commerce activities. Akti is a Belgian cloud company which provides SMEs with e-commerce solutions, including order management and invoice processing. We are excited to bring these services to our large customer base, as we integrate e-commerce solutions with our one-stop-shop platform for SMEs.
Ready for the digital age
Has your business caught up with the digitalisation process that accelerated so suddenly last year? If not, don’t panic! Unifiedpost is here to help you on the path to digital transformation. We provide a wide range of innovative digital solutions that enable automation and streamlining of your financial and administrative processes. From contracts and orders to invoices, payments, and financing, Unifiedpost has everything in place to create end-to-end digitalisation of your financial value chain.
In 2021 it pays to be on board with digitalisation. By partnering with Unifiedpost, you can ensure that you are.
