News
04.08.2008
Xevin Investments invests on the Polish media and technology market
Xevin Investments has successfully completed its first investments on the Polish new media market. Cube Group SA, 8fish Sp. z o.o., and Transdata Sp. z o.o are Xevin’s first portfolio companies.
Already at the Fund’s market launch, Xevin Investments’ Board of Directors announced aggressive investments in businesses operating in the new media, technology, Internet, and telecom sectors, and confirmed that they had entered into negotiations with representatives of a few companies in this market. During the past week the following companies have become the Fund’s portfolio companies: Transdata Sp. z o.o. (70% of shares), Cube Group SA (51%) and 8fish Sp. z o.o (43%).
On July 10, 2008, Xevin Investments signed the first investment agreement with Transdata Sp. z o.o., a company specialized in providing tools for file sharing and hosting; the Fund took up 70% of the company’s shares.
“This is very important for us. We are happy to have enlisted a Partner who will support our further development, not only financially but also in terms of expertise”, says Damian Sikora, President of the Board of Transdata Sp. z o.o. (www.sendspace.pl). “Our project is relatively young but we have ambitious plans and goals that would be impossible to achieve without an experienced Partner”.
The second investment was finalized on July 14, 2008, when Xevin Investments signed an agreement with Cube Group, a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and specializing in e-marketing (www.cubegroup.pl).
“Cube Group operates in the performance marketing segment, offering services related to search engine advertising, website positioning, and affiliate marketing. It is the most dynamically developing e-marketing sector with annual growth rates of several dozen percent. This is the area within which we have developed our strategy of further dynamic growth. One of its major elements is a rapidly growing team of top quality specialists. Despite our short history – less than 3 years on the market – we are also present in Lithuania, where our subsidiary company managed to become profitable within just a few months. At the moment, we are pretty advanced in our efforts to expand Cube Group’s operations onto markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Considering our strategy, we count heavily on our new investor who has offered to support us with expertise and know-how going far beyond the standard offerings of other investment funds”, comments Marcin Hutnik, President of the Board of Cube Group SA. “Our consistent strategy combined with support from Xevin guarantee our further successful growth. In autumn this year we are going to make a debut on the NewConnect market, which, I believe, will confirm the reliability of our business and demonstrate that our vision guarantees financial success. Within the next few years we want to maintain our leading position on the Polish market and become a major market player in countries of Central and Eastern Europe.”
The third company to have entered into an investment agreement with Xevin Investments – on July 16, 2008 – is 8fish Sp. z o.o., represented by Michał Samojlik. Xevin has taken up 43% of shares in 8fish (www.8fish.pl).
“8fish is a project based on creating mini applications or widgets, which are used in modern online advertising. We educate the Polish media market on how widgets can be used for building effective, personalized communication”. This is how Michał Samojlik, a co-founder of the project describes 8fish’s potential. “We have no doubt as to widgets’ brilliant future in Poland. It is enough to look at their howling success on more technologically advanced markets. What we lacked for rapid, balanced growth was stable funding. Now, with Xevin Investments, we are certain that we can execute our strategy. The Fund will also support our operations with its expertise and know-how, if such a need arises. The Fund’s specialization and its management teams’ experience are another important reason for us to believe that we are building our company’s future with the right Partner.”
President of the Board of Xevin Investments has announced another investment to be finalized within a month.
“We can still see good chances for successful investments in existing business and projects in the development phase. Many years of experience on the new media market and continuous monitoring of global trends in this sector let us assess and select projects rapidly and (we believe) accurately. If a company’s activity is consistent with global trends, its business model has been assessed as reasonable, and its management team guarantees effectiveness, we are always ready to talk with the company about our potential engagement”, explains Krzysztof Golonka, President of the Board of Xevin Investments. “The Polish Internet and new technology market is still to enter its era of prosperity. We will announce our next investment within several days.
Xevin Investments’ goal is to build a portfolio of companies whose operations could benefit from the effect of multilateral synergy.
“In our opinion the prospects of the sector of new media, new technologies and online advertising are at least as strong as they were a few years ago. It is not true that there are no promising investment opportunities in Poland. We want to support businesses whose growth has been limited by financial barriers and, in many cases, by insufficient experience in making management decisions. We are prepared to cooperate both with representatives of large, existing projects, and with entrepreneurs who are just laying foundations for their businesses. We support young entrepreneurs with our know-how at all stages of business management”, adds Radosław Czyrko, Investment Director at Xevin Investments.
About portfolio companies
Cube Group SA
Cube Group SA is a specialized agency offering performance marketing services, with a special emphasis on search engine advertising. The company has been granted a prestigious title of a Google Advertising Professional Company, attesting to its professionalism. Cube Group is a member of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, an international industry organization promoting search engine marketing). Since 2006 it has participated in the work of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Polska, co-creating IAB’s search engine marketing unit.
The goal of Cube Group is to optimize its Clients’ ad campaigns in terms of effectiveness. The company uses its own, original system for managing advertising campaigns. Its comprehensive services include SEM and SEO activities in the most popular search engines in Poland: Google, Onet, Wp, Netsprint, Interia, and Gazeta. The company’s offerings are complemented with contextual advertising in the following networks: Google AdSense, OnetKontekst, Adkontekst, and SmartContext; and with affiliate programs. Cube Group’s clients include media houses, international corporations, and local companies.
8fish Sp. z o.o.
8fish specializes in creating advertising widgets to be used in global communication platforms such as iGoogle, Netvibes, and Facebook, and in operating systems: Windows Vista and Mac OS X.
The main goal of 8fish is to promote the marketing potential of widgets – small graphic elements of the user interface of computer applications that enable communication between the application and the user.
Until today the 8fish team has created several dozen widgets compatible with various communication platforms – both customized ones developed to clients’ specific orders, and ones created by the company’s employees. These include widgets providing information about cinema and TV schedules, lottery results, sports results, and currency rates, as well as mini applications facilitating access to Allegro online auctions or to Wikipedia.
8fish creates customized widgets and develops complex strategies of using widgets in promotion activities. Following global trends, the company allows its clients to make the most of this non-standard form of advertising, helping them reach their target groups in effective, unconventional ways, both via the Internet and through operating systems’ desktops.
Transdata Sp. z o.o – Sendspace.pl
The SendSpace.pl project was launched in 2007 and was initially owned by BOJA.pl. a company based in Chrzanow. SendSpace.pl enables easy and comfortable storage and transmission of files via the Internet. The service is becoming more and more popular among Internet users as an alternative to traditional electronic mail. It is based on enabling users to send files to many recipients through just one link. The uploaded files may be segregated in folders, analyzed (in terms of statistics), and removed from the server any time.
Since SendSpace.pl’s launch, its administrators have been working on two major aspects. The first one is how to ensure the best possible quality of its services. Servers that SendSpace.pl makes available to its users are carefully monitored and continuously improved, which ensures fast transfer of uploaded and downloaded files. Another way of meeting users’ needs involves introducing new services and improvements. One of the most popular services is “Serwisy Partnerskie” (Partner Websites) – a service enabling cooperation with various websites. It is used by more than 40 thematic websites at the moment. By using SendScape.pl, users may also collect points that can be later exchanged for attractive prizes.
On July 10, 2008, Xevin Investments signed the first investment agreement with Transdata Sp. z o.o., a company specialized in providing tools for file sharing and hosting; the Fund took up 70% of the company’s shares.
“This is very important for us. We are happy to have enlisted a Partner who will support our further development, not only financially but also in terms of expertise”, says Damian Sikora, President of the Board of Transdata Sp. z o.o. (www.sendspace.pl). “Our project is relatively young but we have ambitious plans and goals that would be impossible to achieve without an experienced Partner”.
The second investment was finalized on July 14, 2008, when Xevin Investments signed an agreement with Cube Group, a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and specializing in e-marketing (www.cubegroup.pl).
“Cube Group operates in the performance marketing segment, offering services related to search engine advertising, website positioning, and affiliate marketing. It is the most dynamically developing e-marketing sector with annual growth rates of several dozen percent. This is the area within which we have developed our strategy of further dynamic growth. One of its major elements is a rapidly growing team of top quality specialists. Despite our short history – less than 3 years on the market – we are also present in Lithuania, where our subsidiary company managed to become profitable within just a few months. At the moment, we are pretty advanced in our efforts to expand Cube Group’s operations onto markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Considering our strategy, we count heavily on our new investor who has offered to support us with expertise and know-how going far beyond the standard offerings of other investment funds”, comments Marcin Hutnik, President of the Board of Cube Group SA. “Our consistent strategy combined with support from Xevin guarantee our further successful growth. In autumn this year we are going to make a debut on the NewConnect market, which, I believe, will confirm the reliability of our business and demonstrate that our vision guarantees financial success. Within the next few years we want to maintain our leading position on the Polish market and become a major market player in countries of Central and Eastern Europe.”
The third company to have entered into an investment agreement with Xevin Investments – on July 16, 2008 – is 8fish Sp. z o.o., represented by Michał Samojlik. Xevin has taken up 43% of shares in 8fish (www.8fish.pl).
“8fish is a project based on creating mini applications or widgets, which are used in modern online advertising. We educate the Polish media market on how widgets can be used for building effective, personalized communication”. This is how Michał Samojlik, a co-founder of the project describes 8fish’s potential. “We have no doubt as to widgets’ brilliant future in Poland. It is enough to look at their howling success on more technologically advanced markets. What we lacked for rapid, balanced growth was stable funding. Now, with Xevin Investments, we are certain that we can execute our strategy. The Fund will also support our operations with its expertise and know-how, if such a need arises. The Fund’s specialization and its management teams’ experience are another important reason for us to believe that we are building our company’s future with the right Partner.”
President of the Board of Xevin Investments has announced another investment to be finalized within a month.
“We can still see good chances for successful investments in existing business and projects in the development phase. Many years of experience on the new media market and continuous monitoring of global trends in this sector let us assess and select projects rapidly and (we believe) accurately. If a company’s activity is consistent with global trends, its business model has been assessed as reasonable, and its management team guarantees effectiveness, we are always ready to talk with the company about our potential engagement”, explains Krzysztof Golonka, President of the Board of Xevin Investments. “The Polish Internet and new technology market is still to enter its era of prosperity. We will announce our next investment within several days.
Xevin Investments’ goal is to build a portfolio of companies whose operations could benefit from the effect of multilateral synergy.
“In our opinion the prospects of the sector of new media, new technologies and online advertising are at least as strong as they were a few years ago. It is not true that there are no promising investment opportunities in Poland. We want to support businesses whose growth has been limited by financial barriers and, in many cases, by insufficient experience in making management decisions. We are prepared to cooperate both with representatives of large, existing projects, and with entrepreneurs who are just laying foundations for their businesses. We support young entrepreneurs with our know-how at all stages of business management”, adds Radosław Czyrko, Investment Director at Xevin Investments.
About portfolio companies
Cube Group SA
Cube Group SA is a specialized agency offering performance marketing services, with a special emphasis on search engine advertising. The company has been granted a prestigious title of a Google Advertising Professional Company, attesting to its professionalism. Cube Group is a member of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, an international industry organization promoting search engine marketing). Since 2006 it has participated in the work of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Polska, co-creating IAB’s search engine marketing unit.
The goal of Cube Group is to optimize its Clients’ ad campaigns in terms of effectiveness. The company uses its own, original system for managing advertising campaigns. Its comprehensive services include SEM and SEO activities in the most popular search engines in Poland: Google, Onet, Wp, Netsprint, Interia, and Gazeta. The company’s offerings are complemented with contextual advertising in the following networks: Google AdSense, OnetKontekst, Adkontekst, and SmartContext; and with affiliate programs. Cube Group’s clients include media houses, international corporations, and local companies.
8fish Sp. z o.o.
8fish specializes in creating advertising widgets to be used in global communication platforms such as iGoogle, Netvibes, and Facebook, and in operating systems: Windows Vista and Mac OS X.
The main goal of 8fish is to promote the marketing potential of widgets – small graphic elements of the user interface of computer applications that enable communication between the application and the user.
Until today the 8fish team has created several dozen widgets compatible with various communication platforms – both customized ones developed to clients’ specific orders, and ones created by the company’s employees. These include widgets providing information about cinema and TV schedules, lottery results, sports results, and currency rates, as well as mini applications facilitating access to Allegro online auctions or to Wikipedia.
8fish creates customized widgets and develops complex strategies of using widgets in promotion activities. Following global trends, the company allows its clients to make the most of this non-standard form of advertising, helping them reach their target groups in effective, unconventional ways, both via the Internet and through operating systems’ desktops.
Transdata Sp. z o.o – Sendspace.pl
The SendSpace.pl project was launched in 2007 and was initially owned by BOJA.pl. a company based in Chrzanow. SendSpace.pl enables easy and comfortable storage and transmission of files via the Internet. The service is becoming more and more popular among Internet users as an alternative to traditional electronic mail. It is based on enabling users to send files to many recipients through just one link. The uploaded files may be segregated in folders, analyzed (in terms of statistics), and removed from the server any time.
Since SendSpace.pl’s launch, its administrators have been working on two major aspects. The first one is how to ensure the best possible quality of its services. Servers that SendSpace.pl makes available to its users are carefully monitored and continuously improved, which ensures fast transfer of uploaded and downloaded files. Another way of meeting users’ needs involves introducing new services and improvements. One of the most popular services is “Serwisy Partnerskie” (Partner Websites) – a service enabling cooperation with various websites. It is used by more than 40 thematic websites at the moment. By using SendScape.pl, users may also collect points that can be later exchanged for attractive prizes.