Record Fundraising for I-care that Continues its Strong Growth

PRESS RELEASE

Record fundraising for I-care, that continues its strong growth

Mons, Belgium – September 30, 2022 – Belgian company I-care Group, a global leader in industrial machine health, announces a record fundraising of €50 million, led by a major Belgian industrial investor and CPH Bank, with participation from IMBC, SRIW and Amerigo fund, and including €10 million injected a few months ago by employees. I-care’s ambition is to become the world leader in predictive industrial maintenance, and this fundraising round will allow the company to further accelerate its growth.

“I am delighted to see the confidence that I-care is generating, both with investors and with our teams, customers and partners,” explains Fabrice Brion, CEO of I-care. “I am very excited to welcome a leading Belgian, family-owned industrial group (which is also an I-care customer), together with CPH Bank and Walloon Amerigo fund, and I am very grateful to IMBC and SRIW for their continuing support. This new fundraising round further confirms I-care’s strong Belgian roots but also our international ambition. We want to be the global number one player in industrial machinery health, and the funding will enable us to continue our global expansion, scale up our workforce, accelerate our transition towards a hardware-enabled SaaS model, and further invest in R&D and technology.“

Thanks to its fifty thousand Wi-care sensors used in factories around the world, its I-see platform that houses the largest database in the market and its AI, I-care monitors 24/7 the industrial equipment of more than two thousand blue chip customers, worth 70 billion euros.The company’s solutions allow industries across the globe to be more productive (increased productivity, increased quality, reduced costs), safer (reduced risk of accidents), and more sustainable (reduced C02 emissions and increased machine life). With I-care, more than 99% of industrial breakdowns can be avoided, machine downtime is reduced by 10-20%, and maintenance costs are reduced by 35-45%.

I-care, which has nearly 700 employees and branches in 12 countries in Europe, America and Asia, is active across several industries, serving among other the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, energy, and manufacturing sectors. From Mons, Belgium, to Houston, via Sao Paulo and Leuven, I-care helps predict and avoid breakdowns in vaccine and drug manufacturing plants, nuclear power plants and wind turbines, food production plants or microchip manufacturing lines. I-care sensors can also be found on iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 

I-care has been growing at more than 35% per year in the past 5 years and has the ambition to multiply its revenues and normalized EBITDA margin by 5 during the next 5 years. The company has a huge development potential in the industrial maintenance market valued at over €2,5 billion by 2026, coupled with a proven M&A strategy with a tangible future pipeline. The ongoing successful transition from a Wi-care field service-oriented model towards a Wi-care hardware-enabled SaaS model is expected to sustain a strong ramp-up in profitability, with around 90% of the assets scheduled to be monitored by I-care’s own Wi-care sensors within 5 years. I-care’s production of sensors is growing exponentially, as the company currently produces and delivers more sensors within a month than it has done during the last 8 years. 

Following this new fundraising round, co-founders Fabrice Brion and Arnaud Stiévenart and employees together hold more than 80% (1 in 2 employees is a shareholder of the company), external private and public shareholders holding the remainder.

“Today, CPH Bank is delighted to become a partner of I-care, a fast-growing company with a promising future and from our business area. We have full confidence in the business model, its growth potential and the management team.“

“IMBC has been supporting I-care since the very beginning of its activities in 2007. Fabrice Brion and Arnaud Stiévenart, the co-founders of I-care, have given IMBC the opportunity to fully play its role of accompanying and supporting entrepreneurial initiative within its region. The implementation of the SaaS model has been a revolution in I-care’s business, its development is a crucial next step that we will share with enthusiasm alongside I-care’s teams, its shareholders and all its partners.“

“The S.R.I.W. supports the creators of the future. It is proud to invest in this global technology leader, which is creating ever more added value and jobs in Wallonia, strengthening the competitiveness of its customers and reducing their energy footprint.“

I-care customer testimonials, independently collected

• “The client did an in-depth analysis of over 20 vendors in the predictive maintenance space. I-care was the best.”

• “I-care has the people who have been involved in the (r)evolution of the technology, with a strong vision and historical expertise found in very few providers.”
• “I-care’s devices are the best on the market” and “the data interpretation capabilities are very good and the teams are quick to respond.”

J.P. Morgan SE acted as the sole placement agent to I-care Group on the transaction.

About I-care Group

I-care Group is a world leader in machine health. Their AI- and data-driven solutions can predict industrial failures months or even years before they occur. Thanks to I-care, machines around the world are safer, more productive and more sustainable. Founded in Mons in 2004, the company has close to 700 employees and offices in 12 countries (Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific), with customers in more than 55 countries. I-care won the EY Company of the Year Award in 2020 (Belgium).

About CPH Bank

With about thirty branches spread over Hainaut, Namur and Walloon Brabant in Belgium and a staff of about 220 people, the CPH Bank is a cooperative company that defines itself as a local retail bank. As the last French-speaking private player, the CPH bank has an excellent financial solidity. Its numerous clients are private individuals, self-employed or SMEs. In recent years, it has developed a limited activity of equity investment in innovative companies.

About IMBC

IMBC – partner of proximity to companies – is a €320 million investment fund that has invested more than €550 million for the benefit of 1,050 companies, 300 of which are still in its portfolio. It intervenes at any stage of a company’s life: from creation to IPO and for any type of need from investment to working capital. The annual investment rate is around €60 million with a leverage effect of €1 invested in a SME for €6 invested in the regional economy. IMBC is particularly active in the agri-food, technology and environmental sectors, with direct links to the Mons Borinage region’s ecosystems in Wallonia.

About SRIW

The S.R.I.W. (Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie) contributes to the development of our region’s economy by intervening financially in the development projects of Walloon companies or companies established in Wallonia. It participates in their growth, alongside private investors, via loans but also equity investments.

Contact

I-care Group: Jochem Binst, +32 (0)471-20.26.79, jp@gosselindewalque.com