The start-up is building a platform to network data from the industry. New shareholder Francotyp-Postalia is urgently seeking revenue from the digital world.
All sensors, all machines: Any data generated in the industry should find its place in the cloud solution of the start-up Juconn. The software then wants to help with the evaluation and analysis of the data. Now, the traditional company Francotyp-Postalia (FP), which has grown up selling franking and inserting machines, is joining the start-up as a minority shareholder.
About the startup
The start-up, based near Munich, wants to benefit from the interfaces offered by FP: “From our point of view, FP has the technologically leading gateways that can read almost any standard protocol,” says Juconn CEO Sven Dunker. According to own data, nine employees work for the start-up. For the customer projects, however, one could fall back on up to 35 developers, according to Juconn.
According to a press release, the internationally established group FP based in Berlin has now secured 15 percent of the start-up. According to own data the entry to a valuation in the tens of millions took place – FP invested thus in each case a low seven-digit amount in the Juconn shares.
Signs are on cooperation
The cooperation could also be extended: FP has secured the option to expand the stake to just over 25 percent – in many shareholder contracts is at such a value already reached a so-called blocking minority against which no forward-looking decisions can be made.
Especially in industry, the curiosity of companies to secure shares in start-ups is increasing. Among other things, this is done to gain a better insight into topics that could in future complement or even threaten the core business. For example, the technology group Körber invested in the 3D printer manufacturer BigRep or the data platform Connyun. Car manufacturer Brose joined the 3D printer manufacturer Aim3D.
And IT service provider Adesso took over the majority stake in a platform for the exchange of device data, which is aimed at mechanical engineering last year. The digitization goals of the more than 95-year-old FP are ambitious: By 2020, they want to achieve a turnover of 30 million euros from new, digital business models. Juconn will also serve as a scout for other interesting digital companies: The startup opens its own platform for other start-ups in exchange for shares – and acts as an incubator on a small scale.
Also published on Medium.