Belgium-based tech startup Kwarts, on its 5th anniversary, has raised €1.2M from Volta Ventures, Imec.istart, BlueHealth Innovation Fund, LRM, Belfius and experienced business angels Jean-Marie Vliegen, Wouter Reggers, and Wim Van Cappellen.
With the proceeds, the startup plans to hire new data-minded talent and will invest in expansion.
The Inception Of Kwarts
Kwarts was founded in 2016, and it has recently unveiled an AI-focused customer data platform, ‘A-Inside’ that helps companies to centralise and analyse data streams and thus map out the customer journey.
“We link data flows from the existing CRM and ERP system together with third-party data to our platform. A-Inside analyses the data and makes suggestions about customer needs. This is done in a very clear, workable way. We remove the silos between different teams within a company. In this way, A-Inside maps out the needs of customers such as care providers and makes recommendations on how to meet their needs,” explain CEO Bart Van Proeyen and CCO Ruben De Moor of Kwarts
The A-Inside platform was created within the framework of a VLAIO project in cooperation with the BIARU cell at Hasselt University and is based on scientific research. “We approach the industry with expertise. Because of that background knowledge, there is an affinity for life sciences. Therefore, we work mainly with and for companies within the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, both in Belgium and abroad. From our experience, we can come up with pragmatic solutions that work for our clients. But A-Inside is an agnostic platform, which means it can be perfectly implemented in other sectors,” Bart assures.
“A major advantage is that our system can be integrated into an existing CRM system,” says Van Proeyen and De Moor.
These two childhood friends met again in the summer of 2020 and joined forces to develop the platform. This funding and the launch of A-Inside platform marks Kwarts’ definitive turnaround from consultancy to a product-oriented company.
The Expansion Plans
Kwarts has already completed projects in Europe and Asia and has a trade mission to the United States planned. The startup is looking to further expand to achieve further growth. “With the current seven-person team, we are very strong in the field of AI. We are now looking for strong profiles in software development and data science, on top of commercial profiles. Together with them, we want to make Kwarts grow further and become a household name,” Ruben concludes.
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