Railnova, the Belgian supplier of railway telematics solutions and maintenance workflow software to the railway industry, has agreed the sale of a minority 32 per cent stake to German braking systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse.
Founded in 2010, Railnova’s objective is to connect trains to simplify daily lives of railway professionals in an industry where digitalization and process automation is key to profitability. With its train monitoring and maintenance management technology that fits on any train, Railnova offers digital fleet management solutions for operators, lessors, maintainers and manufacturers.
CEO and Railnova founder Christian Sprauer said: “We are proud to have Knorr-Bremse, a global player with its strong tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation, as an investor and partner. After eight years of self-funded growth, this investment comes as the best validation for our long-term customers and for Railnova. Knorr-Bremse’s trust in Railnova will foster our market reach and accelerate growth while keeping our customer-oriented and growth-focused culture that made our success so far.”
In response, Dr Jürgen Wilder, the board member of Knorr-Bremse responsible for the Rail Vehicle Systems division, said: “Railnova is the innovation and technology leader in digital solutions for enhanced maintenance in the railway industry. The experienced management team around Christian Sprauer has strong capabilities and proven experience on delivering customer-oriented solutions. Railnova’s telematics and maintenance workflow solutions improves asset availability and perfectly fits Knorr-Bremse’s innovation culture to create market-leading solutions for the digitalization of trains.
“With more than 1,500 installed units and a fast-growing demand for their products their business model is market-proven – we are very happy to support Railnova’s further growth.”
Railnova employs around 30 people at its Brussels office and in Germany in hardware design, software development, data science, professional services and sales.
In contrast, Knorr-Bremse, a global market leader for braking systems and a leading supplier of other safety-critical rail and commercial vehicle systems, has about 28,500 employees at over 100 sites in more than 30 countries.
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