Nextbitt strengthens business

Assuming itself to be a company with 100% national capital, Nextbitt was born in 2015 and immediately tackled the market for managing companies' physical assets. In an interview with Ntech.news, Miguel Salgeiro, founder & partner of Nextbitt, explains a little more about the company's history and looks to the future. The recent investment round was one of the topics covered.

Ntech.news: How did Nextbitt come about?

Miguel Salgueiro: Nextbitt was founded in 2015 by three partners, Miguel Salgueiro, André Calixto and Pedro Morais, as they wanted to create a business that would add value to the organizational world and the information technology sector.

It is a Portuguese software company that provides an innovative solution aimed at the management and optimization of physical assets and the sustainable compliance of organizations. In other words, it allows each organization to keep a permanent record of all its assets on a single platform, as well as managing the useful life cycle of each asset. It works towards the development of a safer, more effective and easier-to-use technical solution for its clients, focused on the ethical environmental commitment of organizations.

And how do you position yourselves on the national market?

MS: Nextbitt is currently positioned in the national market as the benchmark company in Asset Management, Facility Management, Field Service, Iot & Sustainability for companies in the sector.

In that sense, how has your business evolved?

MS: Since its inception, Nextbitt has been constantly evolving, whether in terms of results, human resources or the needs and demands of its clients through the development of disruptive technological solutions capable of making a difference in everyday organizational life.

Let's do the math

What was the turnover for the last tax year?

MS: In its 2021 balance sheet, Nextbitt recorded its best year ever in terms of turnover, with a figure of 3 million euros, thus enabling it to register its record turnover.

How much does that mean in terms of growth compared to the same period last year?

MS: This result represents a growth of 60%, which proves the consistency and perceived quality of the organization's products and services, as well as the assertiveness and relevance of its offer and its commitment to human capital as a fundamental pillar of the company's development.

And are there already figures for 2022?

MS: In the first 6 months of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, growth remained in double digits, and the level of recurrence grew by the same amount.

So, what are the billing prospects for this year?

MS: Nextbitt's goal for 2022 is to grow its turnover by around 30% and the number of clients in Portugal by 10 to 15 new clients. It should be noted that, as we operate particularly in the enterprise market, the growth of projects with this type of client should not be seen in isolation, as for us it means new billing points, and here, in the first 6 months of 2022 alone, we have already grown by 35%. Now, there are still global factors of uncertainty, such as Covid and the war, which we are not taking into account for this growth at the moment.

What kind of products do you sell exactly?

MS: Nextbitt came to occupy an "empty" space in technology. There were products on the market that could fill this space, but they were technologically outdated and didn't correspond to the interests of the market. Instead, we offered a technologically up-to-date product with a local presence, which helped respond to these market needs and requirements.

We are presenting a software solution which, with the pandemic, has become more relevant. Companies began to have contingency plans, evacuation plans, plans to reoccupy facilities and all of this goes through our interlocutors and our platform ends up being a fundamental tool. What we offer the market is a platform that covers all areas of Asset Management, Facility Management, Field Service, IoT and Sustainability.

On the other hand, in addition to managing the physical assets of organizations, it brings together the Energy Management System (EMS) module on its platform, which is capable of simplifying compliance with good environmental practices based on metrics for the quality of energy, water, gas, fossil fuels and the tracking of hazardous waste produced.

We don't customize products or services, but we do make improvements, an added value because the platform covers various areas of activity that grow with the dynamics of the market.

What sectors of activity do they work in?

MS: Although we have a platform that cuts across any sector, the main industries in which Nextbitt operates are Energy, Banking and Specialized Retail, the Transport Sector, the Metalworking Industry and Health.

Internationalization is very real

Do you only work in the domestic market or do you already have international clients?

MS: We currently have both national and international clients, and internationalization accounted for 12% of last year's overall turnover. However, with the investment of 5 million euros from the Explorer Investments fund, Nextbitt intends to strengthen its international presence, expanding its business into four or five European geographies.

But what are your main markets?

MS: We already have projects in Spain, the USA, Angola, South Africa and Brazil.

How many customers do you currently have?

MS: What we can share today is that Nextbitt's technology supports its clients in the management of more than 1 billion physical assets. The platform is one and the same for all sectors, having already worked with Leroy Merlin, CUF, EDP, CTT, PRIO, GALP, Sonae MC, Vodafone, Worten, among others.

Investing in the future

How important is this investment round?

MS: Nextbitt sees the investment of 5 million euros by the Explorer Investments fund as recognition of its effort, hard work and strategic management since its creation.

In this sense, the main objective of this operation will be to strengthen Nextbitt internationally, initially in the European market, through the creation and establishment of new offices, with a focus on developing and promoting the sustainability area as a strategic value-added offer in the management of physical assets.

This partnership makes Nextbitt more robust, allowing a greater focus on accelerated growth in different geographies. The agreement reaches a clear commitment to technology for sustainability and Nextbitt aims to be an international benchmark within 5 years.

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Source: Ntech.news