Kongsberg Digital (KDI) recently signed a fleet agreement to provide its vessel-to-cloud infrastructure, Vessel InsightInterconsult Bulgaria Ltd (ICB), a software developer and supplier of process modeling, software architecture design, quality assurance and 3D modeling and design, has been acquired by Kongsberg Digital. to over 100 vessels. Signed with a large industrial shipowner in the tanker segment, the new contract is another major step towards digitalization of the shipping industry.
Kongsberg Digital is experiencing significant commercial traction across our three digital divisions Digital Energy, Digital Wells, and Digital Ocean. To support the roll-out of our leading digital positions in Energy and Maritime and to support the growth into Renewables, KDI is ramping-up the development capacity.
The acquisition agreements were signed 26th of April 2022. The full acquisition is completed after 2 years, with KDI effectively acquiring 65 per cent of the company now.
ICB will serve as KDI’s European development hub for software development to attract and develop key talent to deliver into existing projects and support KDI’s vision to accelerate the green shift by digitalizing the worlds industries. ICB has proven solid delivery and highly skilled developers through the long-lasting relationship with Kongsberg Group starting already in 2004 supporting on a range of products.
“ICB has delivered high value into a wide range of products for KDI, and they are an important and trusted partner. Their ability to solve problems and deliver efficiently with high quality will be crucial going forward. ICB has also shown that they can attract and retail real talent in a highly competitive market, which is key to establishing ICB as a European location for growth. Bringing ICB onboard as a KDI company will strengthen our team and support our journey ahead.”, says Hege Skryseth, President Kongsberg Digital.
“Kongsberg Digital has been an important partner for ICB through many years and represents the natural way forward for our company. This will bring opportunities to continue innovation and together we will strengthen our product development for the future”, says Stoyan B. Boev, CEO of ICB
ICB offers highly innovative and skilled personnel complementary to KDI, with focus on IoT, visualization, AI and machine learning within the maritime and energy domain. ICB is also considered a good platform for future recruitments and ramp-up, with high standard office premises, a people-first culture. Bulgaria is considered attractive as it is close-to-home and offers access to highly talented people with a high ranking on Software Engineering Statistics.
Through the acquisition of ICB, we expand and strengthen our long-lasting partnership going back to 2004 for developing Kongsberg Digital SaaS products. ICB represents developers and technologists with deep software knowledge and extensive experience in industrial business domains. The company is technology and developer-driven, with a curious and dedicated mindset. The expertise in the latest technologies such as AI/ML, industrial IoT, Cloud, and VR/AR is a perfect fit with the Kongsberg Digital software culture. The acquisition enables us to expand and develop our Kongsberg Digital SaaS products such as the Kognitwin Energy digital twin product, the SiteCom drilling solutions, the maritime simulators, and the Vessel Insight ecosystem.
ICBs head quarter is located in Sofia, Bulgaria, with smaller offices in Plovdiv, Kyustendil and Blagoevgrad mainly to broaden recruitment footprint and increase attractiveness as an employer. ICB consists of about 150 employees serving mainly Scandinavian customers and will be a great extension to the growing KDI team now consisting of more than 760 employees globally. The company was founded in 1996 and owned by founder and CEO Stoyan B. Boevand Technical Director Atanas Golev.
The acquisition agreements were signed 26th of April 2022.
