Gimv backs further growth of Luciad, provider of Geospatial Situational Awareness software
European investment company Gimv and Luciad management today announce the acquisition by Gimv of a majority stake in Luciad, the world market leader in high performance Geospatial Situational Awareness software, with focus on the security and the aviation industries.
Luciad (www.luciad.com) develops and provides software that enables fast development of high-performance Geospatial Situational Awareness applications. Its portfolio of powerful and superior products provides support for achieving Situational Awareness by handling large numbers of static and moving data on top of geographical information, produced by an ever increasing number of sensors (satellite, video, radar, map, opto-electronic,…) in many different formats and references. Luciad products support fast on-the-fly data fusion, visualization and analysis of Geospatial data allowing users to make instant decisions. Therefore, Luciad is the supplier of choice for leading Systems Integrators worldwide, for their Situational Awareness applications in mission-critical systems for the aviation and security industries. Luciad’s customers include Belgocontrol, Boeing, EADS, EUROCONTROL, FAA, Lockheed Martin, NATO, Sagem, Thales and Thales Raytheon Systems. Customers appreciate Luciad for its value in allowing significantly faster development of applications, combined with high performance and accuracy. In addition to licenses on its software products, Luciad also provides its customers with maintenance, training, consulting and development.
Luciad was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from the University KU Leuven. Today it employs 80 people and realises a turnover of EUR 11.3 million (2012). In addition to its headquarters in Leuven (Belgium), the company has offices in Reston, VA (U.S.A.), Ankara (Turkey), and Paris (France). Luciad plans growth by providing solutions to an ever growing air traffic. Moreover, huge potential for Luciad exists in real time civil applications (gas & oil, mining, telecom, …), which today are dominated by applications that are more static in nature. This new phase in the company’s development comes with a restructuring of the shareholder structure, in which Gimv together with Luciad’s management takes a majority stake in the company.
Marc Melviez, CEO of Luciad, on the transaction: “We continue to provide cutting-edge technology to the most demanding clients. The partnership with Gimv will enable us to expand the Luciad distribution network faster than before.”
Tom Van de Voorde, Partner Gimv continues: “Luciad is a perfect example of a Smart Industries investment: superior technology, untapped growth potential for its cutting-edge products and an experienced management team which has the clear ambition to further expand the company’s leading position in high performance visualization software. We are therefore pleased being able to partner with this world class company for its further expansion and growth.”