Katalysen Ventures announces that portfolio company Manico is preparing a possible IPO

Katalysen Ventures AB (publ) ("Katalysen" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the board of Manico AB ("Manico"), a portfolio company of Katalysen, has instructed their management to prepare the company for an IPO in 2023. The decision follows a long period of strong growth for Manico, which delivers cutting-edge software and hardware to enable and encourage learning through increased collaboration inside and outside the school sector. During the first quarter of 2023, sales grew by 300 percent driven by a positive development in Sweden, with new customers in the private and public sectors and internationally in Europe and Asia.

Manico's product, with cutting-edge software on educational touch screens that enable collaboration between multiple users at the same time, is sold to pre-schools and schools and other public amenities with educational entertainment needs such as hotels, libraries, museums, restaurants, stores, and shopping malls. The elderly care sector is also a growing market.

The positive development in Manico is driven by expansion in Sweden and internationally. In Sweden, Manico has signed an important agreement with a major hotel group and won procurement contracts from the cities of Helsingborg, Trelleborg, and Norrköping. Internationally, notable events include 100 units sold to Italy in just two months and Manico’s partnership with Japanese AEON Fantasy, which operates 1,000 stores in Asia, resulting in increased deliveries to the Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Malaysian markets. The business model is based on recurring revenue from the proprietary software and revenue from hardware sales. 

Manico and Katalysen partnered in April 2021, and Katalysen is one of Manico's major shareholders today. The collaboration between Katalysen and Manico has resulted in a strategic pivot, introducing a new business model with recurring revenue from proprietary software, support in the vetting and acquisition of the now proprietary software, and a holistic rebranding from hardware provider to edtech leader. Katalysen has also provided strategic support around funding strategy.

CEO Peter Almberg comments: “It is great fun to follow Manico's very positive development. Since our entry, Manico has pivoted from a pure hardware company to a software and hardware company with a clear niche. Manico's management has done an outstanding job since they approached us for help to develop. They have been a great partner to collaborate with and very responsive to Katalysen's process. For Katalysen, Manico's success proves that our Venture Developer model works, and an upcoming IPO is an opportunity for us to make our planned exit, full or partial.”