Main Capital to push Avinty’s growth in northwest Europe

Main Capital will use its recent investment, Dutch healthcare software provider Avinty, as a platform for organic growth and acquisitions, with a particular focus on expanding in northwest Europe, managing partner Charly Zwemstra told PE Hub Europe.

Avinty provides software to more than 400 customers in the Netherlands and Belgium with more than 65,000 healthcare professionals using it daily. Founded in 1994, the company was established by merging healthcare software providers Karify, Jouw Omgeving, Impulse, VIR e-care solutions, NederCare and AppNormal.

Main Capital announced it had bought a majority stake in Oldenzaal-headquartered Avinty earlier in August.

“We see it as a new platform investment,” said Zwemstra. “We’re building a strong northwest European software business for healthcare.” That expansion will include growing in Belgium, Scandinavia and the DACH region.

Research for potential add-ons for Avinty has already started, and Main Capital has identified over 50 possible options. “We expect Avinty to be well positioned to do those acquisitions,” Zwemstra added.

Part of the planned growth for Avinty will be to enter other healthcare segments. Zwemstra did not reveal exactly which, but told PE Hub Europe that they would be close in substance to the current core business. “They’re very active in electronic client files,” he said. Avinty supplies software for several organisations, such as institutions that care for the disabled and some in the mental health sector, among others.

Main Capital, headquartered in The Hague, has a very “long term perspective” when considering Avinty’s future, said Zwemstra. But he is aware of large investment firms that would love to get involved in the healthcare sector as it is a “fundamental” market with “huge budgets” allocated to the sector in several countries.

Despite the impact of rising interest rates on financial markets and a hit to the valuations of some software companies, Main Capital is also bullish on the sector in short term.

“If I look at profitable, growing software companies in the healthcare space, there was some impact in May and June, but they already showed a very strong recovery in July,” Zwemstra explained.