Accenture has acquired VanBerlo, an award-winning product design and innovation agency headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands, to strengthen capabilities and improve build smart connect solutions, the company announced on Wednesday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The number of smart connected products is increasing rapidly and the speed of digitization is challenging our clients’ design and development processes…Bringing VanBerlo’s creative team into our Industry X.0 practice will enable us to help our clients develop new business models and generate new revenues from smart connected products and services,” said Frank Rennings, managing director and Accenture Digital Lead in the Netherlands.
With the acquisition, Accenture will gain VanBerlo’s innovative products and services for companies in a variety of industries, including fast-moving consumer goods, mobility, healthcare, banking and high-tech.
VanBerlo’s technologies combine physical objects with digital services, using technologies like internet of things (IoT) sensors, artificial intelligence and data analytics. Accenture will integrate the technology to provide more personalized products to customers while offering companies insights to expand businesses.
VanBerlo has deep experience in innovation and product strategy; product, software and user experience design; and prototyping, with a focus on sustainable solutions. The team will join Accenture’s digital technologies division, Industry X.0, to improve how companies design, engineer and manufacture products and services and operate industrial facilities.
Thomas Paulen, CEO of VanBerlo, said: “Our multidisciplinary team is passionate about creating forward-looking solutions that meet humans’ needs and generate growth for clients. We are looking forward to joining Accenture Industry X.0 and driving innovation for global clients.”
Accenture also announced the acquisition of Icon Integration, a privately held Australian technology consultancy that provides SAP digital supply chain solutions and services and specialized business intelligence (BI) solutions, to improve Accenture’s growing technology initiatives and number of SAP professionals in the region in Feb. 2020.
Icon Integration, consisting of 70 employees in Australia and New Zealand, works with some of the regions’ largest retail, consumer goods and government organisations. With the acquisition, Accenture will gain Icon’s differentiated capabilities in supply chain execution, particularly warehouse management.
Accenture will also improve its data optimisation, as well as designing, developing and delivering bespoke enterprise technology solutions that help clients improve business performance and operational efficiencies with the purchase.
“We are excited by the opportunity to join forces with Accenture and to tap into their breadth of capabilities and specialisations that will significantly build on the success we have achieved in our business to date,” said Paul Roddis, co-founder and co-managing director at Icon Integration.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 505,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.