Nextfour and Verso Capital join forces to re-new the global future of boating

Nextfour, the Finnish hi-tech company known for its successful and awarded multifunctional Q Experience marine displays and private equity company Verso Capital have agreed on an equity and ownership arrangement to accelerate the company´s international growth. The internationally highly recognized Q Displays are currently facing a strong global demand.

Nextfour´s mission is to make navigation and boating easier and accessible for everyone. For this mission the company has developed the Q Experience, that integrates all boating and navigation functions into one sharp and bright touch display. The easy-to-use user interface makes navigation simple and smooth. The Q Experience is the first marine display that brings the familiar automotive-like user experience to boating by integrating the on-board computer, chart plotter, guard and entertainment system in one single device. The Q Experience is an intuitive system combining the dashboard, sea charts, guard-function, weather forecasts, radio, cellular connection, and a Wi-Fi-hotspot connecting the display to other devices. The intuitive and comprehensive approach of the Q Experience also provides confidence in controlling and handling the boat.

An integral part of the Q Experience is also the mobile app, which includes the guard functionality and automatic logbook, which records the routes and provides information on trip history, fuel economy, weather, providing off-the-boat awareness and theft alarm.

Investment to enable international growth

International interest towards the Q Experience has increased to such extent, that the company’s capability for independent organic growth reached its limits. With the equity investment the company will have the needed resources to meet the increasing demand from the markets.

”The launch of the renewed Q Experience product family in the beginning of the year has raised a huge international interest and market entries in North America, Europe and Australia/New Zealand have advanced sooner than planned. In order to meet the demand, we needed more resources for our growth as we are simultaneously strongly committed to bring also new innovations to the market and expand our activities. We immediately found a common tone with Verso Capital“ Nextfour CEO Niklas Öhman opens the backgrounds of the new investment arrangement.

“The entire boating industry is growing strong currently, with digital transformation disrupting the market similar to the automotive industry, and Nextfour is clearly one of most interesting players in this technological disruption on the market. Nextfour is clearly a forerunner compared to the traditional players in the industry“ Mika Suomela, partner at Verso Capital emphasizes. “Nextfour focus on accessibility to boating for everyone using one single intuitive device, and complementing it with supportive services is positively distinguishing the products from its traditional competitors on the market”

Nextfour

Nextfour´s Q Experience is known for its world-class smart multifunctional marine displays and integrated technology ecosystem and is a market leader in the Nordics, pre-installed in new boats with brands like Buster, Yamarin, Cross, Askeladden, Grand to name a few.

Nextfour´s growing Engineering business unit offers complete device and software design services with turnkey solutions, especially for medical and industrial internet solutions. Engineering services are the foundation of the company and will continue strong growth with the improved resourcing from the investment.

Verso Capital

Verso Capital is a growth stage buyout investor that specialises in carve-out situations and complex business situations. We acquire and invest in European B2B companies and businesses that have good growth potential and revenues up to €50m, but currently are suffering from growth bottlenecks. Our team has experience from over 100 carve-out and M&A transactions – we have the necessary know-how and methodology to execute even complicated transactions quickly and efficiently. We are typically a majority investor and spend a considerable amount of our time working together with the management in order to solve growth and profitability bottlenecks. We manage three funds with over €160M of capital, and have offices in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Munich.

Additional information:

Nextfour Group
Niklas Öhman
CEO
+358 50 372 8287
niklas.ohman@nextfour.com
https://www.nextfour.com

Verso Capital
Mika Suomela
Partner
Verso Capital
+358 50 483 4184
mika.suomela@versocapital.com
www.versocapital.com