The ingredients for the emergence of growth companies are gradually being put in place in the capital.
For a long time in our country, the issue of growth companies remained under the radar of entrepreneurial support structures, which tended to focus on start-ups. It seemed that once the early struggles had passed and the business model was in place, taking things to the next level was no longer a question. And yet... Once the seed capital has been secured, followed by the initial funding to develop the product or service, there are still many milestones on the road to greater success for the ambitious entrepreneur. But when the business succeeds, it itself becomes a powerful stimulus to entrepreneurship and innovation for all the players in its ecosystem and region. There are many challenges to overcome before you reach that point.
Market expansion within Belgium or further abroad
To begin with, you need to have a market reserve in which your solution creates value through its differentiating character and its development potential. Jean-Louis Van Houwe is CEO of Monizze. The fintech is a pioneer in the digitalisation of meal vouchers and other benefits in Belgium. From two employees in 2011, it has now grown to 140: ‘We have helped to cut service costs by a factor of 3 for companies and by a factor of 10 for merchants, while at the same time multiplying the number of beneficiaries by a factor of 3. Today, our market share is 35% in terms of the number of employers we serve’, says the founder, who explains how the simplicity of his solution and its accessibility to companies of all sizes has enabled the market to expand considerably.
Often, scaling up also means looking beyond one's own region or country. It's a question of market size, but also of ambition. ‘Scaling requires an enormous amount of time and energy. It's impossible without a good dose of drive and leadership’, says Cédric Pierrard. He is currently CEO of Haulogy, a company that develops software for the energy sector, and previously turned Efficy into a European leader in CRM, with over 500 employees.
The entrepreneur explains that among the other scalers he knows, he has only come across people with clear ambitions, unwavering motivation and those who have ‘worked like crazy’. Jean-Louis Van Houwe, for his part, identifies obstacles to internationalisation that are... Belgian. ‘Before looking abroad, you can sometimes be exhausted by this market with its 4 languages and insane complexity, with administrations that sometimes give the impression of working against you’, he laments. ‘Scaling also means learning not to get discouraged,’ says Alain Heureux, an expert in entrepreneurship and responsible for Beci's ‘Scale-Up’ nights, who has helped dozens of companies along the way.
Attracting and retaining talent
Another necessity is to be able to rely on the support of a solid team. Perhaps more than any other, a fast-growing company needs to be able to rely on its ability to attract and retain talent. ‘This is certainly true in the digital services sector - capital is first and foremost human,’ insists Cedric Pierrard. ‘The life of a growing company is made up of many arrivals, but also many departures’, he continues.
So you need a stable human ‘core’. We're not necessarily talking about the management team here, which is also bound to change depending on the stage of development. ‘New members of management tasked with scaling up need to be able to rely on experienced teams who know the company and the product well’, the founder explains.
He's convinced of Brussels' strengths in attracting young talent. ‘For years, I travelled 4 days a week. Compared with other cities, Brussels remains an ideal breeding ground. There's a good mix of a very international population and an affordable quality of life. Unfortunately, when they reach a certain age, too many decide to move out of the capital,’ he observes.
Optimising processes
Another major challenge is the ability to optimise business processes to avoid growth costs which, if left unchecked, can lead to the company going off course. ‘We are constantly testing and refining our operational processes, our HR and marketing approaches, our commercial deployment and, of course, the development of the platform’, explains Dominique Pellegrino, CEO of Vertuoza. Vertuoza, which develops digital solutions for construction companies, won the latest Deloitte Fast 50 award.
A growing Venture Capital culture
Although many companies find finance&invest.brussels a very effective source of finance, it has long been said that Belgium in general - and Brussels in particular - cannot compare with London or Paris when it comes to the presence of venture capital. ‘Given the limited size of the Belgian market, getting a technologically innovative company off the ground is complicated, which has an impact on the potential for attracting investors,’ explains Jean-Louis Van Houwe, who is also very involved in the Fintech Belgium sector association.
But according to many witnesses, the landscape has changed considerably. The Brussels ecosystem is now home to a number of funds, including White Fund, E-capital, TCD Capital, SmartFin, M80, SFPIM and others. Brussels lagged behind other capitals, but a venture capital culture is gradually developing,’ says Cedric Pierrard with satisfaction. Alain Heureux also points out that ‘when the projects are good, the funding follows’.
In this respect, the presence of accomplished local entrepreneurs who go on to invest in other promising companies is a key ingredient of a promising ecosystem. Jean Louis Van Houwe and Cédric Pierrard, both investors themselves and present on several boards, spontaneously mention the pioneering examples of the Zurstrassen brothers and Grégoire de Streel, the founders of Keytrade, who reinvested heavily. Alain Heureux also points to other Belgian role models, such as technology investor Jürgen Ingels and Duco Sickinghe, the former head of Telenet.
Brussels: the place to scale
The region is home to a number of ambitious Brussels-based companies. Among the nominees and winners of EY's Scale-up prize over the past five years are developers of digital platforms of all kinds, such as BePark, Sortlist, Apptweak, Netaxis and Wooclap, as well as players in the mobility sector - Cowboy and Urbants - and the food and animal feed industry, such as eFarmz and Dog Chef.
So the capital provides a favourable environment for anyone who wants to grow here and knows how to use the right levers. ‘We've been able to count on the support of Hub.brussels, Beci and Innoviris, as well as innovative partnerships with Brussels players such as the major banks and Payconiq,’ explains Jean Louis Van Houwe, who also mentions the Réseau Entreprendre from which Monizze benefited. ‘Growing up in an incubator like Seed Factory has also enabled us to make a lot of contacts. With both public and private players, the ecosystem is complete’, he adds.
For Alain Heureux, Brussels is home to a host of incubators, support services and potential partners ready to help start-ups, including business angels. He also wants to temper the alarmist talk about the number of bankruptcies observed. ‘We often forget that out of every 10 businesses that start up, 8 will never succeed. This is as true in Brussels as it is in San Francisco or Singapore,’ he points out.
However, he notes that Brussels is not yet as fertile a place for growth companies as Ghent or Antwerp, and that acceleration programmes are rare there... ‘There are probably questions to be asked in terms of mobility, rents and available space for these companies. There are certainly issues to consider regarding mobility, rents, and available spaces for these companies.
Audi, Solvay... Large sites in Brussels are being emptied. Shouldn't we turn them into accelerator sites? The expert goes on to explain that he is working with several partners, including Deloitte, on the creation of a possible GovTech centre of excellence for Brussels. The region is unique in that it is home to countless administrative bodies and regulators. European, federal, regional, municipal... Companies in Brussels are faced with an impressive overlap of administrative obligations. No doubt they are also in the best position to identify and exploit the potential for technological innovation in this area...
Beci invites you to join us every last Tuesday of the month to hear the success stories of companies that have managed to scale up! Take part in our Inspirational Scale-Up Night!