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Writer's pictureAlain Godet

Takeover of Exer by Kappa Data: on the Road to Success


Michel Grunspan, founder of Exer and managing partner of Kappa Data
Michel Grunspan, founder of Exer and managing partner of Kappa Data

Exer's first year within the Belgian group Kappa Data resulted in a growth of more than 50% in turnover to €55M, as well as the optimization and centralization at group level of Marketing functions, IT and BDM (business development).


"With market consolidation accelerating and where employees, customers or suppliers do not always recognize themselves in the values of the new entity, we are more than ever open to welcoming new "recruits", employees, customers or suppliers into our ecosystem for whom long-term relationships, added value and loyalty are non-negotiable values", explains Michel Grunspan, founder of Exer and managing partner of Kappa Data.


Thanks to teams of salespeople and pre-sales engineers certified in the latest promising technologies on the market, Exer has been able to develop a network of nearly 700 reseller and integrator customers throughout France by offering them a local service as well as a commercial, marketing, financial and technical support.


The growth that the company has experienced over the years has been accompanied by the gradual strengthening of the management team. Until 2011, the general management was in the hands of Patrick Casteels, founder of the company. Then, in 2011, the management team expanded with Chris Willems, marking the opening of Kappa Data to the international market and the launch of Kappa Data Netherlands in 2013 then that of Kappa Data Poland in 2015.


2019 saw the arrival in the capital of the group of the private equity fund Investlink and 2021 the acquisition of the French security VAD Exer, and the arrival of Michel Grunspan, founder of Exer and now the third "managing partner" of the Group.


From its earliest years, Kappa Data focused on selling connectivity and network security solutions from a limited number of vendors, to which it has since added OT and IoT security.


Reseller loyalty is just as important: for 25 years, Kappa Data has only served resellers through a strict channel-driven model.


Finally, there is the added value that Kappa Data offers resellers with complete support through lead generation, marketing, business development, logistics processes and, always, the technical added value such as support, training and pre-sales support.


In its development, Kappa Data, like Exer, has always cultivated the search for strong long-term relationships: which is reflected in its many employees who have more than 10 years, even 20 years of seniority, which is also valid for the majority of the brands distributed, and by many customers who have been loyal to him since the very beginnings of the company.


The group is more dynamic than ever, financially solid, with a turnover of nearly 100 million euros in 2022 and more than 85 employees.


"The group's ambition is intact, and, relying on solid foundations, the group wants to continue to develop in Europe in the years to come, obviously with the same key values that have been the strength of the company for 25 years", rejoices Michel Grunspan. "The decarbonization of society is also a fundamental task which started a few years ago in Benelux and which should start in France in 2023, and we are obviously more and more in phase on these aspects with our suppliers and our Principal clients."

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