DRS Investment SE Sells EvaSys Holding GmbH to VIA equity

Successful exit after six years: succession secured, transformation to SaaS provider completed, foundations laid for further growth

DRS Investment SE is selling its majority stake in EvaSys Holding GmbH, the parent company of Lüneburg-based evasys GmbH, to VIA equity, a private equity investor based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specialising in software and IT companies. After six years as majority shareholder, DRS is thereby successfully exiting the company. For almost 30 years, evasys has been among the world’s leading providers of web-based software for the automated administration of surveys and examinations – including in higher education, healthcare and the public sector. With its evasys, evaexam and qurricula products, the company is, according to its own statements, the only provider worldwide that fully automates both survey and examination processes. evasys today employs more than 60 people across its locations in Lüneburg, Edinburgh and Budapest.

 

Succession secured, SaaS transformation completed, grown profitably

Since its investment at the end of 2019, DRS has achieved three key objectives together with the evasys management team: management succession was cleanly resolved – from the founders to today’s dual leadership. The business model was consistently transformed from on-premise software to a cloud and SaaS model, including with the new product generation “evasys X”. And evasys has grown noticeably during this time, with significantly increased profitability.

 

Dr Andreas Spiegel, founder and CEO of DRS Investment SE, says: “Together with the team, we have turned evasys into a modern, profitably growing SaaS provider with a cleanly resolved leadership succession. With VIA equity, we are handing the company over to a partner ideally positioned to support the next growth phase with capital and deep software expertise.”

 

Sebastian Maciejewski, Partner at VIA equity, adds: “Evasys convinces us through its strong market position, broad international customer base, and experienced management team, which has consistently steered the company toward sustainable growth in recent years. We look forward to further driving expansion both internationally and in the healthcare and public sectors, as well as supporting further product innovation, particularly in AI-powered analytics.”

 

About DRS Investment SE

DRS Investment SE is a private equity firm focused on software and tech-enabled service companies. Founded in 2017 by entrepreneur and investor Dr Andreas Spiegel, DRS supports its portfolio companies in their long-term development. Originally specialised in software companies and funded with private capital from its founders, DRS, with the support of international institutional investors, increasingly invests in scalable service platforms that enable operational excellence and sustainable value creation through the use of technology. The goal is the targeted build-up of a portfolio of profitable, high-growth companies with clear technological differentiation.

More information: www.drs-investment.com

 

About evasys

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Lüneburg, evasys is the market leader for web-based software for evaluation as well as examination and quality management in higher education in the DACH region. The company now has a worldwide customer base in higher education, healthcare and the public sector. evasys automates a wide range of use cases related to the assessment and benchmarking of the quality of education, medical care and its effectiveness, as well as compliance with regulatory processes. evasys today employs more than 60 people across its locations in Lüneburg, Edinburgh and Budapest.

More information: www.evasys.de

 

About VIA equity

VIA equity, headquartered in Copenhagen, is a leading Northern European private equity firm investing in software and IT business models. VIA focuses on buyouts of profitable small to medium-sized companies in the Nordic countries and the DACH region. According to current rankings, VIA equity is among the most successful small-cap private equity investors worldwide. VIA’s investment team currently manages a portfolio of 19 companies from its offices in Copenhagen and Munich.

More information: www.viaequity.com

DRS Investment SE Acquires Aurena GmbH

Strategic Expansion into Asset Liquidation and Auction Services

DRS Investment SE has acquired a majority stake in Aurena GmbH, a leading Austrian, technology-driven auction service provider specializing in the liquidation of large volumes of goods. Founder Karl Kühberger will remain a significant minority shareholder and continue to lead the company. Through this transaction, DRS strengthens its investment focus on tech-enabled service platforms and adds an established market leader in digital auction solutions to its portfolio.

 

Aurena operates the eponymous auction platform, which primarily auctions used goods from various industries – ranging from office and industrial equipment to construction machinery, vehicles, collectibles, and antiques. A large portion of the goods comes from insolvencies, business closures, and clearance sales, providing companies and private bidders access to unique items at attractive prices. With over 350,000 registered bidders and a seasoned team of more than 180 employees, Aurena is a key platform for asset liquidations in the German-speaking region.

 

Buy & Build Strategy for Geographic Expansion

DRS Investment plans to further develop Aurena in collaboration with the existing management team, with a particular focus on geographic expansion in Germany and beyond, both organically and through strategic acquisitions.

 

Dr. Andreas Spiegel, founder and CEO of DRS Investment SE, states: “With the acquisition of Aurena, we are adding a technologically advanced auction service provider to our DRS portfolio. Together with the management team, we will drive the company’s development and strongly support its geographic expansion, starting with Germany, through both organic and inorganic growth. Our goal is to establish Aurena as the leading platform for asset liquidation across Europe.”

Karl Kühberger, founder of Aurena GmbH, adds: “We are very pleased to have found a strong, operationally supportive partner in DRS Investment. Together, we will accelerate Aurena’s growth, enter new markets, and solidify our position as a leading digital auction service provider.”

 

About DRS Investment SE
DRS Investment SE (“Dynamic Reliable Solutions”) is a private investment firm focused on software and tech-enabled service companies. Founded in 2017 by entrepreneur and investor Dr. Andreas Spiegel, DRS supports the long-term development of its portfolio companies. Initially specialized in software and funded with private capital, DRS now increasingly invests – backed by international institutional investors – in scalable service platforms that leverage technology to achieve operational excellence and sustainable value creation. Its goal is to build a portfolio of profitable, high-growth companies with clear technological differentiation.

More information: www.drs-investment.com

About Aurena GmbH
Aurena GmbH is Austria’s leading auction service provider for large-scale asset liquidations. The Aurena auction platform features goods from insolvencies, business closures, estates, and clearance sales. With over 350,000 bidders and more than 180 employees, Aurena offers efficient solutions for asset liquidation to both businesses and private customers. Headquarters: Niklasdorf near Leoben, Styria, Austria.

More information: aurena.group

 

DRS Investment acquires survey and assessment automation software specialist

Software investor with its third acquisition since inception in 2017

Private equity investor “DRS Investment GmbH” (DRS) complees its third software transaction in the second year of DRS’ existence by acquiring a majority stake in software specialist Electric Paper Evaluationssysteme GmbH (EPE). EPE specializes in software solutions for conducting surveys that are automatically created, completed and evaluated. As one of the world’s leading suppliers in this segment for 20 years, EPE offers software for the evaluation of university lecturers as well as for computer aided tests and examinations . With the help of its new shareholder DRS, EPE intends to systematically expand marketing and sales activities as well as develop the new business segment of cloud computing.

 “We are convinced that in DRS we have found the right partner for a sustainable development of EPE “, says Sven Meyer, managing director of EPE. Founder Lars Riemenschneider adds: “DRS has extensive expertise in the development of software companies. In addition to technical support in the further refinement of our software, I am pleased that DRS will also support us in our internationalization efforts via its broad business network”.

Electric Paper Evaluationssysteme GmbH, Lueneburg/Germany, was founded in 1996 by Lars Riemenschneider. Its“EvaSys Survey Automation Suite” is a high-end software product “Made in Germany”, setting the industry standard in its segment. Reliable technology, first-class service, and customer-oriented support assure global user satisfaction. More than 20,000 users in more than 1,000 different organizations work with the EPE software daily.

Expansion of Cloud Computing, Marketing & Sales

DRS and EPE intended to expand into cloud computing, especially “Software as a Service” (SaaS). For product expansion additional funds will be made available. DRS and the management of EPE have set common aspirations of strengthening sales staff and expanding marketing efforts with the aim of covering new segments and regions.

The transaction was led by DRS founder and Managing Partner Dr. Andreas Spiegel and DRS Investment Partner Matthias Schneck, supported by DRS Operations Partner Dr. Sven Abels. The parties have agreed to not disclose transaction details.

DRS Investment GmbH acquires logistics software specialist

Software investor with first holding in Switzerland

Munich/Germany, December 12, 2018 – The private equity company DRS Investment GmbH makes the second investment in its first full financial year and acquires 100 percent of all shares of the Swiss software company XELOG AG. The logistics software specialist has been developing intralogistics solutions for companies in the retail, industrial and logistics service sectors for over 20 years, and is one of the leading providers in Switzerland. With the help of DRS Investment, XELOG intends to move deeper into the German market and expand its cloud computing business. In addition, applications with artificial intelligence (AI) will become more important.

“We are convinced that with DRS Investment we have found the right partner for the sustainable development of XELOG, and that we thoughtfully arranged the succession,” says Peter Duss, previous shareholder of XELOG. Founder Armin Töngi adds: “DRS Investment has extensive expertise in positioning software companies. In addition to technical support in the development of our software, I am pleased that DRS Investment will also support us in the internationalization process through its broad network.”

XELOG, Rotkreuz/Switzerland, was founded in 1996 by IT engineer Armin Töngi. The branch office in Dortmund/Germany was founded in 2015. XELOG designs and develops customer-specific intralogistics solutions and offers support and logistics consulting in addition to its own software products. The core product is the warehouse management system XELOG WMS. The XELOG WMS manages, controls and optimizes all processes in internal logistics. XELOG’s customers range from medium-sized companies to international corporations from different industries throughout Europe. Due to their international activities, XELOG solutions are used worldwide.

Expansion of cloud computing and artificial intelligence
With the acquisition by DRS Investment, the Cloud Computing segment in particular is to be expanded as well as the “Software as a Service” business (SaaS). XELOG will make its Warehouse Management System (WMS) available in the cloud, making it faster and more convenient at any time. In addition, logistics apps that can be added give customers a high level of flexibility. In the future, the focus will also move to solutions with AI. “AI is now omnipresent in our industry. We want to set the standard in this field and help our customers generate value from their data,” says Töngi.

DRS Investment plans further transactions in the software logistics industry
The software investor DRS Investment intends to systematically drive XELOG’s business forward by acquiring further suppliers of WMS and software companies along the supply chain. The goal is to establish a software group that will offer software services along the entire supply chain from a single source.

“Small and medium-sized companies in Germany have only digitized a small part of their business processes,” says Dr. Andreas Spiegel, Managing Partner of DRS Investment. “With XELOG’s many years of expertise, we can support companies from retail, industrial and logistics service sectors with customized solutions. To position ourselves on the market in the long term, we want to grow further through acquisitions.”

The transaction was led by DRS founder and Managing Partner Dr. Andreas Spiegel, supported by DRS partners Harald Ebrecht and Dr. Sven Abels. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

About DRS Investment

DRS Investment GmbH is a private equity company focusing on Digital. Revolutionary. Software investments. DRS Investment was founded in 2017 by the entrepreneur and investor Dr. Andreas Spiegel with the support of other private equity investors to acquire software companies with the aim of managing and developing them in the long term. DRS Investment currently holds stakes in Ascora GmbH and XELOG AG. Regardless of the buy & build approach with XELOG, DRS Investment plans to build up a large portfolio of small to medium-sized software companies with EBIT between €1.5 million and €5.0 million. DRS Investment invests in companies with a company valuation of up to €50.0 million.

About XELOG

XELOG AG is a software and consulting company that designs, implements and supports solutions for professional warehouse management (intralogistics). The management system is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001. XELOG is a stock company under Swiss law with headquarters in Rotkreuz near Zug. The company was founded in 1996.

More information can be found at: www.xelog.com

DRS Investment GmbH invests in software specialist Ascora

New private equity player starts with first investment in German market

Munich/Germany, 22 March 2018 – The private investment company DRS Investment acquires the software company Ascora GmbH from company founder Dr. Sven Abels. He will remain in the company as managing director and has re-invested 50 percent into the anchor investment in order to build up a software group in partnership with DRS Investment for the digitization of business processes.

Ascora specialises in consumer software, data management in cloud-based areas and digitisation services for medium-sized companies. The aim of the investment is to further develop and internationalise the company, particularly in the B2B sector.

Ascora GmbH, Ganderkesee, was founded in 1994 by the computer scientist Dr. Sven Abels. The organisation has become an established partner for the digitization of business processes and employs more than 30 software developers. Ascora currently has more than 12 million software licenses in use. This makes the company one of the German software developers with the highest reach. In addition, Ascora is consortium leader for several research projects in the areas of Industry 4.0 and eHealth (EU, BMBF).

Growth through acquisitions

With the participation of DRS Investment, the B2B activities of Ascora

will be considerably expanded. By acquiring software companies, the specialist wants to open up new business fields and become a platform for numerous applications in the B2B environment. “The software developers behind Ascora have an in-depth expertise in the area of secure data management and scaling of large data volumes,” says Dr. Andreas Spiegel, Managing Partner of DRS Investment GmbH. “Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular can benefit from this development power and thus drive forward the digitization and automation of their business processes.”

The aim of the investors is to support the further development of Ascora GmbH in the long term. Ascora founder Abels says: “With DRS Investment we have found an experienced partner who knows how to accelerate growth through acquisitions and make Ascora’s core competencies available for new business areas.”

DRS Investment GmbH was founded in 2017 by the entrepreneur and investor Dr. Andreas Spiegel with the support of other investors from the private equity sector in order to invest privately in companies and to develop them further in the long term. Spiegel (born 1974) has been working in the private equity sector for several years and has accompanied various transactions (entry and exit). He holds a doctorate in business administration and has previously worked in consulting and as managing director in various industries in Germany and abroad. Spiegel has founded several companies himself and is a specialist for growth. He and the selected group of investors contribute exclusively parts of their private capital. Currently, DRS has 10 million Euro available for direct investments, further funds remain on call. A special focus lies on technology-oriented growth enterprises.

About DRS Investment

DRS Investment GmbH, Munich, is a private investment company with currently 10 million Euro in private funds for direct investments. DRS was founded in 2017 by the entrepreneur and investor Dr. Andreas Spiegel with the support of other private equity investors with the aim of acquiring small and medium-sized companies in order to manage and develop them over the long term. A special focus lies on technology-oriented growth companies.

About Ascora

Ascora GmbH is a medium-sized, owner-managed software company with headquarter in Ganderkesee near Bremen. The company develops consumer software for Windows and Mac as well as smartphone apps and participates in various research and development projects in Germany and Europe. Since its foundation in 1994, Ascora has become an established partner for the digitization of business processes and today employs more than 30 software developers. With over 12 million users, Ascora GmbH is one of the largest providers of software solutions for consumers in Germany. Ascora received among others the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award and the 2018 Growth Champion Award from Focus and Statista. It was also included in Focus Business’s list of “Top SME Employers 2018.

More information can be found at: www.ascora.net