Netherlands-based Aareon, a company that offers ERP software and digital solutions for the European real-estate sector, announced on Friday, March 31, that it has acquired the shares of Dutch software company Embrace – The Human Cloud.
This deal is one of the largest in Aaron’s history.
What does Embrace offer?
Embrace explains that every organisation has a knowledge base (including you). Embrace calls the knowledge bank The Human Cloud.
“We believe that organisations should be able to tap into this knowledge base in real-time; their Human Cloud, to quickly find relevant answers to questions and to arrive at distinctive solutions and services,” says the company.
Thus, Embrace, through its software, helps businesses with process automation and information discovery. Its software cleverly digitises processes, responds quickly with relevant information, incorporates human knowledge when required, and continuously learns from every interaction.
Martijn Weesjes, founder of Embrace, says, “In barely ten years we have grown from an idea to a company with more than 500 customers. I am very much looking forward to this next chapter as we continue to build the future of Embrace together.”
About Aareon
According to Aareon, the European real estate market is moving in the direction of fully utilising the opportunities provided by new technologies, such as virtual assistants, customer portals and apps, remote consulting, drones for maintaining security measures, and much more.
The company aims to make these technologies and innovations beneficial and integrable for its customers. Aareon is an established player in the real estate market and has been around for more than 60 years.
It claims that its products are integrated into the Aareon Smart World, a digital ecosystem that is built around its own ERP systems that are country-specific.
Through this digital ecosystem, Aareon allows clients to link and share data not only with their buildings and technological equipment, but also with their tenants, homeowners, and business partners.
“All systems and data are offered from the exclusive Aareon Cloud in our data centre in Mainz, Germany,” says the company.
Currently, the company employs over 2,000 people at 40 locations in the DACH area, Finland, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Norway, and Sweden.
Aim of the acquisition
Embrace, led by investor (and main stakeholder) SiS, believes Aaron is the right partner to achieve its goals as it has the European network, a strong position in the real estate market and a ‘strong’ partnership with Microsoft.
Embrace also mentions that this partnership will help accelerate its internationalisation plan and the growth of its service offering into new markets.
According to Aareon, this collaboration will strengthen its position as a ‘strong’ SaaS proptech company as well as provide its European clients with high-quality, tested products.
Martin Holwerda, director of Embrace, says, “We thought it was important to find a strategic buyer for Embrace who not only wants to invest in further growth, but also wants to offer us the space to remain independent and, above all, ourselves. Aaron is this party.”
Embrace to operate independently
After the acquisition, Embrace reports that it will remain fully independent and active in the market under its own name. The board will also remain in the hands of Martin Holwerda and Martijn Weesjes.
Martijn Weesjes says, “We are not starting an exclusive joint development in the field of digital services for housing associations, but we will both continue to work on and according to open standards.”
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