Capital increase of €6.2 million enables N-SIDE to continue growth in energy and life sciences
New funding supports ambitious growth plans
Louvain-la-Neuve, January 31, 2024 – N-SIDE, a Belgian enterprise and provider of innovative software and services that improve decision-making and supply management in the energy and life sciences industries, receives a capital increase of €6.2 million. Shareholders invest €2.7 million; another €3.5 million is raised from new bank loans and local investments. N-SIDE will use the funding to support its ambitious growth plans, expand its presence in the global energy and life sciences markets, and triple its turnover by 2028.
Among the investors who participate in N-SIDE’s €2.7 million capital increase are two new local shareholders: Wallonie Entreprendre and Invest.BW. Wallonie Entreprendre supports Walloon businesses on an economic and financial level. Invest.BW is risk capital partner for business projects in the heart of Walloon Brabant.
In addition to the capital increase, N-SIDE has been able to benefit from the support of Wallonia Entreprendre International, which granted a loan of 1 million euros alongside new bank loans totaling 2 million euros.
Three main investment projects
The new funding will be used to finance three key investment projects. First, N-SIDE wants to increase its presence in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region. The company recently opened its first office in Tokyo after signing a major contract with Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX). The new branch is the company’s third office, in addition to the Belgian headquarters in Louvain-la-Neuve and an American hub in Cambridge, Boston. The new office in Asia confirms N-SIDE’s ambition to expand its impact of in this region, both in energy and life sciences. For instance, by serving customers in their own time zone.
In addition, N-SIDE continues to invest in Lighthouse, the platform that extends N-SIDE’s capabilities for clinical supply forecasting and planning of clinical trials to all types of research and organizations. The project was already part of an earlier €10 million investment that demonstrated N-SIDE’s commitment to expanding its global presence and developing innovative technologies. The new funding will enable the further development of Lighthouse as a solution for a broad spectrum of pharma companies and clinical trials.
Finally, N-SIDE also wants to maximize its impact on the global energy market by continuing to expand and renew its solutions for the calculation of prices and flows in electricity markets (power matching). In this way, the company aims to reach an even wider range of customers.
Philippe Chevalier, CEO at N-SIDE: “This new funding allows us to take the next step in N-SIDE’s ambitious growth path. In the energy sector, we expect the share of renewables to continue to grow and even double over the next five years. Grid and market operators will need the right management tools to navigate this evolution. Meanwhile, we also want to double our market share in the pharmaceutical industry. While we work for about 40 pharma companies today, by 2028 we want to serve 100 customers worldwide. Together, our key investments projects should enable us to increase our annual turnover from €28 million in 2023 to €90 million in five years. That’s why we are delighted to welcome our new regional investors Wallonie Entreprendre and Invest.BW.”
Laurence Janssen, Investment Manager at Wallonie Entreprendre: “N-SIDE operates in key industries such as energy and life sciences, and has a significant impact on the lives of people around the world. As a new shareholder, Wallonie Entreprendre is proud to invest in this story that began at N-SIDE’s Walloon headquarters in Louvain-la-Neuve and has already expanded to Boston and Tokyo. Pharmaceutical research, in particular, is one of Wallonia’s strengths and we are delighted to support a local company that enables clinical trials and creates value on a global scale.”
Xavier Bocquet, General Manager Invest.BW: “Invest.BW’s primary mission is to provide long-term support for entrepreneurs who have a positive impact on the province of Walloon Brabant and the wider region, in line with its investment strategy that focuses on, among other things, digital entrepreneurship. As such, we are proud to become a shareholder of N-SIDE. This company not only puts our region on the world map, it also creates qualitative jobs and generates a global impact in the fields of energy and life sciences.”
ABOUT N-SIDE
N-SIDE is an innovative software and service provider that enables organizations in life sciences and energy to make better decisions and optimize the use of critical resources. They do this by combining deep industry expertise with applied mathematics and artificial intelligence. Their easy-to-use and advanced software turns uncertainties and complexity into opportunities. For the pharmaceutical industry, this leads to supply chain optimization and efficient clinical trials. In the energy sector, it accelerates the transition to renewable energy sources and electrification (expansion of electricity generation and distribution). In this way, they support customers in making better and faster decisions. A passionate team of innovative engineers, computer scientists and business experts from more than 30 countries supports renowned companies such as AstraZeneca, Roche, UCB, Sanofi, Elia Group, IEX, Statnett, and EpexSpot.
About Invest.BW
Invest.BW is a Walloon (Belgium) long-term investor with more than €100 million in its management. The strategy is to invest at all stages of business development, supporting entrepreneurs in their long-term ambitions. The three main pillars of this investment strategy are digital entrepreneurship, medical applications, and sustainability. For more information: www.investbw.be
About Wallonie Entreprendre
The WE Group is the economic and financial instrument that supports Walloon companies. WE provides the resources necessary for the development of economic activities in various sectors such as agri-food, biotech, deep tech, and many others. The investments and financing of WE always focus on the creation, growth, transfer or relaunch of companies. WE monitors compliance with social and environmental standards, and advocates a sustainable and circular economic approach.
