Web Geo Services takes an international expansion

CAPZA, an independent management company and leading player in private investments in European SMEs – invests in Web Geo Services, a French API (Application Programming Interface) platform publisher and Google Maps’ #1 partner operating in the booming “Location Based Services (LBS)” market.

Founded in 2009, Web Geo Services has built its reputation by becoming the Google Maps #1 Partner and reseller of Google Maps Platform in Europe. The company focuses on 5 sectors: Retail, Finance, e- business, Smart Mobility, and Travel & Hospitality.

Web Geo Services has also developed its own proprietary platform, “Woosmap”, a set of independent APIs dedicated to B2B2C business use cases: store locator, geofencing, data search, payment transaction cleaning, etc.

Web Geo Services is based in Montpellier, where its R&D center is located. The company operates in 8 countries with offices in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Mumbai and Singapore. With a turnover of about €25 million in 2020, Web Geo Services has experienced a strong organic growth in recent years. The company has over 440 clients and currently employs 61 people.

Led by its two founders, Mathias Fliti and Jean-Thomas Rouzin, Web Geo Services has developed a competitive and differentiated LBS offering much appreciated by its customers. The company also benefits from a strong employer brand thanks to a meaningful working environment.

With CAPZA’s support, Web Geo Services’ ambition is to develop new clients use cases thanks to Woosmap, especially through Artificial Intelligence features, and to potentially acquire companies with technological and geographical add-ons. The goal for Web Geo Services is to become the global leading location- based services API platform serving Woosmap and Google Maps Platform.

“We have built a solid & trustworthy relationship with Mathias & Jean-Thomas and share a common vision of the roadmap. Web Geo Services shows great potential thanks to its solid positioning on the booming market of geolocation intelligence and a very high level of customer satisfaction” – Raphaël Horreard, Partner, CAPZA Growth Tech.

“Location intelligence is increasingly recognized as a key digital tool for the physical and online assets of companies. Technology is evolving fast, enabling to constantly offer new productive location-based services. We have chosen CAPZA Growth Tech for their ability to support us as a real partner, and to accompany the step-up of our technological edge as well as the success of our international expansion.” – Mathias Fliti and Jean-Thomas Rouzin, founders, Web Geo Services.

“We have supported Web Geo Services since 2012 and we are very pleased to have accompanied them during this key development milestone. The company has a solid market positioning, and we are happy that CAPZA & IRDI are taking the lead to support the management team in their exciting roadmap to become a leader in location intelligence” – David Manjarres and Ludovic Denis, Partners, Seventure Partners, Yvan-Michel Ehkirch, Managing Partner, Karista.

CAPZA enters the Group’s capital as a majority shareholder, alongside IRDI Capital Investissement, an investment fund based in southwest of France and historical shareholder of the company, which has decided to reinvest in the operation. The Web Geo Services’ management team will reinvest their full proceeds in the company. Other historical financial shareholders (Seventure Partners and Paris Region Venture Fund managed by Karista) are fully exiting during the operation.

This is a new transaction of CAPZA Growth Tech, via Warehousing, which is currently under fundraising.

***

Participants

For the Buyer:

o Buyers: CAPZA Growth Tech (Raphaël Horreard, Jean-Luc Cyrot, Alexis Childs), IRDI Capital Investissement (Geneviève Blanc)

o DueDiligence

  • Strategic: Digital Value (Arnaud de Baynast, Romain Bury, Abdellah Moutaçalli, Xudong Zhang)
  • Financial: Crowe HAF (Thomas Corbineau, Julien Latrubesse)
  • Fiscal / Social / Legal: Bonna Auzas (Sigmund Briant)
  • Tech: CAST (Nicolas Bidaux)
  • ESG: Sirsa (Margot Varache, Nathan Raynouard)

o Lawyers: Goodwin(Benjamin Garçon,Messan Dogbevi,Yong Fei Zhu)

For the Seller:

o Sellers: Seventure Partners (David Manjarres, Ludovic Denis), Karista (Yvan-Michel Ehkirch)

o M&A: ClairfieldInternational (BertrandHermez, MarieDokchine)

o Lawyers: Lamy Lexel (Arnaud Lafarge) ; Chammas & Marcheteau (Arys Serdjanian)

Press contacts
Léa Schultz – Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Lea.Schultz@citigatedewerogerson.com
Tel: +33 (0)7 57 52 06 05

Kristell Le Nadan – Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Kristell.LeNadan@citigatedewerogerson.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 53 32 84 71 / +33 (0)6 98 49 22 27

About CAPZA Growth Tech

CAPZA Growth Tech is dedicated to profitable high growth tech companies with a potential leadership on their segment. It relies on a seasoned investment team with complementary backgrounds in technology (consulting, entrepreneurship, investment, management …) actively supporting portfolio companies to ensure the achievement of their ambitious growth and profit goals.

Learn More here

About CAPZA

Created in 2004, CAPZA is an established European private investment platform focused on small and mid-cap companies. The company is majority owned by its teams and supported by the AXA Group.

With €5.1bn of assets [1], CAPZA places its experience and passion for developing businesses at the service of investors in Europe and worldwide with its platform of 6 complementary areas of expertise: Flex Equity, Private Debt, Transition [2], Artemid [3], Growth Tech and Mid-Cap Expansion.

CAPZA offers financing solutions to small and mid-cap companies at every stage of their development. Its unique platform allows CAPZA to support companies over the long term by providing them with custom made financing solutions (majority equity, minority equity, subordinated debt, senior debt, etc.). CAPZA is a generalist but has built up strong expertise in supporting companies in the health, technology and services sectors.

CAPZA Group has more than 80 employees based in Paris, Munich, Madrid and Milan.

More information: https://capza.co
Twitter: @capza_co

About IRDI Capital Investissement

Based in Toulouse, Montpellier, and Bordeaux, Irdi Capital Investissement has been a key player in private equity for more than 35 years, with an investment track record in companies located in the south-west of France and at all development stages (venture capital and buyout).

It manages more than €380m spread across several funds, including IRDI/SORIDEC and IRDI B which were both leveraged to invest in WEB GEO SERVICES.

Contact : Geneviève BLANC

More information: www.irdi.fr

About SEVENTURE PARTNERS

With €850m net commitments under management as of the end of 2020, Seventure Partners is a leading venture capital firm in Europe. Since 1997, Seventure Partners has been investing in innovative businesses with high growth potential in two fields: Life sciences across Europe, Israel, Asia and North America, and Digital technologies in France and Northern Europe. In Digital technologies, the three main areas of focus include FinTech/Insurtech, Retailtech, and Other digital innovative solutions. Investments can range between €500 000 and €10m per round, or up to €20m per company, from early to late stage, growth and Pre-IPO. Seventure Partners is a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, which ranks among the world’s largest asset management companies. Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, Natixis is the corporate finance, management and financial services bank of BPCE, the second largest banking group in France.

More information: www.seventure.com / Twitter @SeventureP

About KARISTA

Karista, formerly CapDecisif Management, is an independent venture capital firm specialized in early- stage investments, particularly in the digital, technology and healthcare fields. Since its creation in 2001, the company has supported more than 90 companies in Western Europe and generates sustained performance for its investors. The Karista team is recognized for its complementarity and its network. Karista has signed the Sista collective charter.

Press Contact :
Anna Casal – anna.casal@strategieetmedias.com,
Ilana Lignel – +33 (0)7 50 49 42 97 – ilana.lignel@karista.vc

About Paris Region Venture Fund (managed by Karista)

As part of its policy to support innovation, the Paris Region (Région Ile-de-France) wishes to assist the emergence of tomorrow’s leaders in the key sectors of the Paris Region economy with high competitiveness stakes, such as the sustainable and intelligent city, tourism, agri-food, digital, cybersecurity, health, aeronautics, and the mobility sector. It has chosen to focus its support primarily on projects involving breakthrough technologies that will shape the products and services of tomorrow.

In order to achieve this ambition, the Paris Region has set up an investment fund, the Paris Region Venture Fund, with the support of the ERDF (FEDER), which is designed to provide equity support to young innovative companies in the Paris Region. With investment capacity increased to €50M in 2017, the PRVF supports growth and employment with the creation of an average of 30 jobs per participation and a growth rate in turnover of more than 200% (source: EDATER).

[1] including assets managed by a third party and advised by Artemid SAS. Based on valuations as of 31/12/20 and also including funds raised until March 2021.

[2] The funds of the CAPZA Transition range are managed by the asset management company CAPZA, and advised by CAPZA Transition SAS which has financial investment advisor status (CIF in France), is registered under the Orias under the number 18001601 since the 23/03/2018.

[3] The funds of the Artemid range are managed by both by a third party and by the asset management company CAPZA and advised by Artemid SAS, which is a subsidiary of CAPZA and Amiral Gestion and has financial investment advisor status (CIF in France). Artemid SAS is registered by the Orias under the number 14003497 since the 05/28/2014.

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