13. Backed by PE: Pinja
Pinja helps industrial companies to digitalise their business-critical operations by providing software solutions. With Norvestor as active owner, the company aims to become a global actor in the industrial SaaS market and reduce their clients' environmental footprint.
"You should focus on your speciality. In the cross-country skiing events during this year's winter Olympics, Finland's Iivo Niskanen focused on his speciality, the 15 km classic distance, and he won. Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, on the other hand, dominated the freestyle distances. Translated to our business, we are focusing on industrial digitalisation", says Veli-Matti Nurminen, CEO of Pinja.
Nurminen is dressed in a bright pink hoodie with the Pinja logo on it when speaking with Argentum in March 2022. The ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics is keeping many Nordic countries preoccupied. The Pinja CEO's point is that the company recently decided on what it should specialise in.
A fully fledged software company
"When Pinja was established in 1990, the company was focused on helping clients with automation and engineering. In the early 2000s, it started providing clients with Software as a Service (SaaS). Following divestments in the last couple of years, the company is now a fully fledged software company", he says.
Companies within sectors like forest industry, manufacturing, bioenergy and recycling, and the vehicle inspection business are relying on Pinja's digital solutions. Pinja has customers in 30 countries
When Nurminen joined in 2018, the company redefined the strategy to focus on SaaS and to rebrand the company name to Pinja, "a word yet without any particular meaning", he says. Norvestor acquired Pinja from MB Funds in November 2021. The focus in the coming years is internationalisation and attracting more top talents.
"Norvestor is renowned for internationalising companies. This will be our common focus in the coming years, with targeted add-ons in the Nordics and the DACH area. We also want to continue developing our employer brand, to attract the brightest talents. The customer's trust in our consultants is our most important asset", he adds.
Digitalisation drives sustainability
One of the major trends in the Nordics in 2021 was investments in the industrial sector. These companies are accelerating the use of software and product-related data analytics. Pinja is enabling them to become more digital, which also helps them to reduce their environmental footprint.
"For example, we help our clients reduce energy and resource consumption, reduce emissions, extend the lifespan of their equipment, and increase visibility to their supply chains. Our solutions also bring positive socio-economic impact to our clients by increasing safety and efficiency", says Nurminen.
Client examples include timber producer Metsä Fibre, which through Pinja's solutions can reduce the waste from raw materials, use energy more efficiently and run sawmill production with unprecedented speed, up to 200-300 meters per minute. Another example, Snellman, a producer of processed meat products and ready meals, has been able to reduce waste by 25 % and optimise their need for freezer storage by over 20 % with Pinja's planning solutions.
"Generally speaking, many industrial companies are laggards with regards to digitalisation. Pinja provides them with concrete solutions to solve these challenges. In addition, the company plays a central role in supporting its customers in their efforts towards energy and resource efficiency, putting it right in the sweet spot of Norvestor's investment strategy", says Marika af Enehjelm, Partner in Norvestor's Finland office.