Latest️

Cologne. The investors behind Equivia had acquired the assets of the CloudFest and NamesCon 2021 events from the then owners in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and actively supported and expanded the events during and after the crisis. Despite the difficult economic conditions during the pandemic, the business performed better after the crisis than before. CloudFest was able to maintain its role as the largest event in the Cloud and Hosting industry and expand it even further after the pandemic. Since 2023, new major events such as CloudFest USA and MSP Global in Europe have also been successfully established. The investors are now placing the event in new hands and are delighted to have found a good home for the events in Opus Origin. They will continue to support Opus Origin and the management with their knowledge and network in the Cloud Hosting industry. There will also be no changes in the management team of the business. CEO Christian Jaeger and his team will continue to run and develop the business.

Opus Origin is a renowned organiser of focused events in the digital environment and is already very successful with its subsidiaries Data Center Dynamics and Yotta. With the acquisition of WHD Event GmbH, Opus Origin will significantly expand and strengthen its portfolio in the area of Cloud and Hosting events. The Opus Origin team have decades of experience in developing large scale events businesses which will be used, alongside significant strategic investment to develop WHD Event GmbH.

WHD Event GmbH, based in Cologne, is the organiser of CloudFest, the world’s largest Cloud and Hosting industry event, which attracts over 9,000 international visitors to Europa-Park in Rust every year. WHD Event GmbH also organises the MSP Global event for managed service providers, which will take place at the Port Aventura theme park near Barcelona in October 2024 following a successful launch event at the Nürburgring 2023. The portfolio also includes NamesCon, the world’s largest event in the domain industry, and CloudFest USA, both of which are held annually in the USA.

Cologne. With an investment in the single-digit million Euro range, the Cologne-based investor Equivia Partners joins the market leader for EEBUS-based connectivity. KEO Software connects energy-relevant devices - such as charging stations for electric cars and heat pumps - with energy management systems and the smart grid using a broadly-accepted standard. Compliance with grid requirements, smart energy management and tariff-optimized operation of buildings are made possible. This prevents overloads of the power grid and enables the use of devices in new energy related business models.

In addition to the investment Equivia brings their partner group with experienced entrepreneurs and investors from the IT arena as advisors and supporters to the table.

„With Equivia we have found the ideal partner to continue to grow nationally and internationally with our company and our great team. A financially strong investor with entrepreneurial roots gives us exactly the backing and drive we have been looking for“ says Marc Eulen, Managing Partner at KEO.

Thomas Strohe, Partner at Equivia, added: „Our investment in KEO brings the company another big step towards professional market expansion and growth.“

„KEO sits at the intersection of the three strong trends energy transition, artificial intelligence and data sovereignty. Together with the KEO team, we can leverage this potential in an entrepreneurial way,“ says Dr. Andreas Palm, Partner at Equivia, looking forward to the collaboration.

KEO started with a sustainable background in the development of hardware and software for international mass market devices. Today, all KEO solutions are based on software and the global communication standard for energy in the Internet of Things: EEBUS.

EEBUS enables manufacturer-independent and interoperable connectivity for use cases in which devices require or produce a lot of electricity: The (power) grid integration of e-mobility, the electrical heat transition and the smart use of renewable energies are the main focus.

With its universal connectivity solutions and test and development tools, KEO serves a broad and very successful customer portfolio: International industry leaders and innovation drivers from the e-mobility, building automation, heating and solar industries, as well as the world of power grids rely on KEO solutions to integrate into energy networks.

Cologne. Cologne-based investor Equivia Partners as well as experienced companies and investors from the IT sector assume leadership of the investors consortium. In addition, neoteq ventures get on board with Simon Schneider und B.J. Park. Business angels Tim Schumacher (i.a. World Fun, Sedo, Eyeo), Ryan Hood (founder of Hood.de) and Arno Nonnen (Dr. Schwarz-Schilling & Partners) who were already investing are also on board again.

"We are incredibly proud of our team and of the fact that we were able to conclude another successful financing round with renowned investors. With the funds received, we are planning to further expand our own shipping service 'JUMiNGO Express' and continue to grow particularly in the German express market", says Sascha Goldstein, founder and CEO of JUMiNGO.

Jochen Berger, Partner at Equivia comments: "With plenty of passion and entrepreneurial thinking, the leadership team has developed JUMiNGO into one of the key players on the German digital shipping market. The strong and sustainable business model provides the perfect foundation to further utilize the immense market and growth potential and, at the same time, drive digitalization in the logistics industry."

JUMiNGO, the digital carrier for international express mail and package services, doesn't only focus on the best value-for-money, but also on personalized customer service as well as simple and intuitive usability of its digital platform. JUMiNGO sees its role in simplifying shipping for SMEs and digitalizing the outdated logistics industry. Sustainability plays a key part in this. At the end of 2021, JUMiNGO became the first comparison and booking platform to make its shipping 100 percent carbon neutral.