“We recognised that Monterro stood out from the others we had spoken to, owing to their specialised experience and focus on the software industry”.
Gunilla Åberg, Co-founder and former CEO of Next One Technology
Investment year: 2019
Divestment year: 2023
Area: Construction tech
# employees: 150
Next Technology stands today as a remarkable success story in the construction tech industry, especially in the Nordic region.
With a strong focus on product expansion, market growth, and internationalisation, Next has seen its revenue grow from 3.5M Euros to 20M Euros over the last 5 years.
This remarkable journey is marked by strategic partnerships and bold business moves. It began with a modest yet ambitious team, who were on the right path in Sweden but wanted to maximise their market potential.
To do this, they realised they needed support from a growth partner.
Before Monterro, Next had a great presence in the Swedish market, with a solid product and a dedicated customer base that didn’t churn. But it faced the challenge of scaling.
That’s where Monterro came in.
"We had this fantastic inbound momentum; but we were only selling on incoming requests, we had zero outbound activity." – Johan Jarskog, CEO of Next
Next had already gained a lot of interest from investors, but it was Monterro’s enthusiasm that caught Gunilla Åberg, co-founder, and former CEO of Next’s eye.
"We recognised that Monterro stood out from the others we had spoken to, owing to their specialised experience and focus on the software industry."
For Monterro, Next was the perfect partner to invest with, as their potential for a strategic boost to growth was huge.
“They had a great customer base and their main tech offering was working very well. Secondly, it was an interesting sector.” – Gustav Lagercrantz, former Chairman of Next and CEO of Monterro.
The construction industry lagged behind when it came to digitalisation, and was crying out for a solution like Next’s – and all their existing customers loved the product.
This gave Monterro confidence that adding outbound marketing would significantly grow the sales pipeline.
Built a robust sales and marketing framework
Monterro helped Next shift from inbound tactics to a scalable marketing and sales model.
Before, Next only answered incoming requests, but with Monterro, they built an effective marketing machine to generate outbound demand.
Next implemented a CRM – giving the organisation the insight it needed to develop a comprehensive and outward sales strategy.
With this, they were also able to easily focus on their ideal customer profile – generating more valuable leads.
“We were able to build. We recruited more sales reps to grow the department, and added the ability to do outbound sales too.” – Johan Jarskog, CEO of Next.
Enabled international expansion and acquisitions
Next already had a solid product in a niche market, but making it famous outside of Sweden required Monterro’s experience in taking businesses abroad.
A big part of this international expansion was strategic acquisitions, which helped Next more easily enter Norway and the UK.
“With the help of Monterro we were able to make an early acquisition of a company in Norway, a huge step in becoming international." – Johan Jarskog, CEO of Next.
Enhanced corporate structure
Monterro helped Next build a management team that would make the company’s new strategy more effective and ensure alignment across all departments.
This was critical for success.
“We immediately found some motivated and engaged employees... We supported them in hiring a CFO and a CPO to make a management team to carry the company forward.” – Gustav Lagercrantz, former Chairman of Next and CEO of Monterro
Collaborated closely
Throughout, Next and Monterro ensured they were aligned on the goals and progress of the partnership through regular and meaningful communication.
Crucially, they ensured this included people from all levels of the business – from leadership to sales reps.
To promote company-wide engagement and collaboration, multiple incentive programs were offered inviting all employees to become shareholders in Next. These were a great success and more or less all the employees have chosen to participate and invest in the company, showing fantastic commitment and engagement.
Since partnering with Monterro, Next Technology has achieved:
For ambitious SaaS companies looking for a growth partner to expand, the journey of Next Technology offers valuable insights.
“Start the process of seeking partners early and focus on cultural and vision alignment.” – Gunilla Åberg, co-founder, and former CEO of Next
“It’s crucial to partner with someone who understands your business and is genuinely able to deliver on their commitments. Monterro stands out, especially during the scaling phase. Their entrepreneurial experience truly made a significant difference because we were a company of ambitious entrepreneurs ourselves.” – Johan Jarskog, CEO of Next.
“We recognised that Monterro stood out from the others we had spoken to, owing to their specialised experience and focus on the software industry”.
Gunilla Åberg, Co-founder and former CEO of Next One Technology