IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap III (“IK SC III”) Fund has signed an agreement to invest in Defibrion B.V. (“Defibrion” or “the Company”), a leading Dutch distributor of automated external defibrillators (“AEDs”) and related products. IK is investing from its dedicated pool of Development Capital and acquiring its stake from existing shareholders, including Holland Capital, Co-Founder and current CEO Joshua Valkenier and the management team. Both Joshua and the management team will be reinvesting in the Company alongside IK. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
Based in Groningen, Netherlands, Defibrion was founded in 2008. As an expert in the field of AEDs and workplace safety, Defibrion offers a wide range of products and related services, acting as a one-stop shop for emergency response needs to more than 6,400 customers globally. These include over 900 resellers in Europe and North America, with the remainder being end-users such as offices, sports clubs and government institutions.
With the support of IK, the Company aims to scale the existing platform on the back of a growing market and increased product awareness, diversifying the offering to directly serve end-customers in new markets and cross-sell to its existing network. Additionally, the Company plans to identify buy-and-build opportunities to accelerate its expansion and drive consolidation in what is currently a fragmented market.
Joshua Valkenier, Co-Founder and CEO of Defibrion, said: “This is an important next step for Defibrion as we seek to further strengthen our position as a global player in the AED market and target continued growth in a marketplace that is constantly evolving. With the support of the team at IK, who has proven experience investing in the Healthcare sector across various European jurisdictions, we are confident that we can deliver success and growth for all our customers and other stakeholders.”
Frances Houweling, Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to IK SC III Fund, added: “We are very excited about the prospect of partnering with Joshua and his team. Defibrion has established itself as a market leader for AEDs in Europe. This market is predicted to continue growing across Europe at an impressive rate year-on-year, largely due to increased awareness of the need for these products, given the rising risk of cardiac arrest. It is also a sector in which the broader IK team has considerable experience and we look forward to bringing this into our partnership with the Company.”
For further questions, please contact:
IK Partners
Vidya Verlkumar
Phone: +44 (0) 7787 558 193
vidya.verlkumar@ikpartners.com
