This case won the Entrepreneurship category at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2023. #CaseAwards2023
View photos and a video from the awards presentation on 25 September 2023.
Who – the protagonist
Frederick Ronse, the founder and CEO of Ovinto.
What?
A passionate entrepreneur, Frederick established Ovinto to address a major problem in supply chain logistics, namely the lack of connectivity and integration of rail freight.
Firstly, Ovinto created and patented sensors which could be fixed onto rail freight cars to track their location, temperature, pressure, and even the state of the brakes. This cut down human time and effort considerably.
However, the freight car owners and users lacked the software tools that could interpret the data produced by the sensors, so Ovinto produced a Big Data platform that integrated Internet of Things (IoT) and telematics capabilities into a company’s business management software. Crucially, the software could process data from any relevant device as well as Ovinto’s own sensors.
Why?
Ovinto was gaining traction in the rail freight industry and had lined up some prominent customers, while a recent partnership with SAP, the global software solutions company, was a major boost.
Frederick was optimistic that Ovinto could reach €50 million revenue and €25 million EBITDA in 2024, positioning the company as an attractive acquisition candidate, and providing a desired exit for all shareholders.
Frederick felt it was now an appropriate time to drive the company on a high growth trajectory.
Where?
The Ovinto HQ is based in Belgium but its sensors work anywhere in the world as they are satellite communication enabled.
With eight million active rail freight cars around the world, entering the American market was a key priority for Ovinto, as the country was home to 1.6 million rail cars.
When?
It was in 2010 when Frederick founded Ovinto.
Up until 2016, Ovinto was financed through Frederick’s own limited funds, with €3 million in grants from European and regional government agencies proving instrumental in the development of both the software and hardware. Bank financing was also needed as the sensors had to be pre-financed.
At the end of 2016 Ovinto raised €1 million equity from a business angel, who helped set the strategic course going forward, in return for a 10% stake in the company.
Two years later and Frederick was contemplating the next steps for further growth.
Key quote
“We don’t know when it’s (the train) going to arrive, and today we receive quite a lot of complaints that the train hasn’t arrived on time.”
Benjamin Twisk, Supply Chain Engineer, INEOS Oxide.
What next?
Frederick faced a number of key decisions regarding his growth strategy.
How much investment should be raised? How could they establish a valuation that would be agreeable to current investors (and Frederick) but would not deter potential investors? Who might these investors be, and what value could they add to Ovinto?
This is Sophie Manigart’s first Case Award, and Vlerick Business School’s third. Vlerick previously won the Outstanding Case Writer: Hot Topic (2015) and Outstanding Case Teacher (2017) competitions.
Winning the award
Sophie said: “I’m honoured to receive this award. I have used other award-winning cases for many years, and now being an award winner myself makes me truly proud and humbled at the same time, looking at the other award winners. It is so encouraging that many educators around the world use this case; it will motivate me to look for other relevant topics and write more cases.”
Case popularity
Sophie continued: “The topic of valuing an entrepreneurial venture is present in all entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance courses. It is highly important for ambitious entrepreneurs and investors alike. Surprisingly though, there are few cases directly addressing this problem in a detailed way.
“The case also uses 100% real life data, both from the company and the venture capital market. This information is presented in various formats, including a video featuring the entrepreneur and excels with the financials. This makes it more appealing to students.
“Furthermore, the case is appropriate for various audiences. Teachers may use it in bachelor or master and MBA courses, but also in executive education, such as targeting entrepreneurs. The problem can be approached in a more technical, quantitative way introducing various valuation models, and is hence appropriate for finance students, but also in a more qualitative way focusing on the different drivers of scale-up valuation, and is appropriate for non-financial students as well.
“Finally, it describes a situation of an ambitious entrepreneur, but not an ‘outlier’. While many students would be familiar with unicorns and their financing histories, and valuations are widely discussed in the press, the reality is that most entrepreneurs never reach a unicorn status. Nevertheless, these entrepreneurs are really important, and understanding their problems and potential solutions is relevant.”
Writing the case
She added: “I was especially pleased to get the full support of the entrepreneur, Frederick Ronse. He was fully open and disclosed not only highlights, but also challenges he and/or the company had experienced.”
Case writing advice
She explained: “Get real insight from the protagonists. Do not only focus on highlights, but bring a nuanced, real-life story. And tackle an important problem.”
Teaching the case
Sophie commented: “I have the advantage that I can invite the entrepreneur to the class. This obviously is a tremendous added value for the students, and makes the story come to life. They have to present their proposed valuation to the entrepreneur, who then comments on their work and explains what has happened.”
Final word
Sophie concluded: “Together with the entrepreneur, we are currently preparing a follow-up case, now discussing the difficult question of exiting the venture. I sincerely hope it’ll be as widely adopted as the first case.”
The case
Who – the protagonist
Frederick Ronse, the founder and CEO of Ovinto.
What?
A passionate entrepreneur, Frederick established Ovinto to address a major problem in supply chain logistics, namely the lack of connectivity and integration of rail freight.
Firstly, Ovinto created and patented sensors which could be fixed onto rail freight cars to track their location, temperature, pressure, and even the state of the brakes. This cut down human time and effort considerably.
However, the freight car owners and users lacked the software tools that could interpret the data produced by the sensors, so Ovinto produced a Big Data platform that integrated Internet of Things (IoT) and telematics capabilities into a company’s business management software. Crucially, the software could process data from any relevant device as well as Ovinto’s own sensors.
Why?
Ovinto was gaining traction in the rail freight industry and had lined up some prominent customers, while a recent partnership with SAP, the global software solutions company, was a major boost.
Frederick was optimistic that Ovinto could reach €50 million revenue and €25 million EBITDA in 2024, positioning the company as an attractive acquisition candidate, and providing a desired exit for all shareholders.
Frederick felt it was now an appropriate time to drive the company on a high growth trajectory.
Where?
The Ovinto HQ is based in Belgium but its sensors work anywhere in the world as they are satellite communication enabled.
With eight million active rail freight cars around the world, entering the American market was a key priority for Ovinto, as the country was home to 1.6 million rail cars.
When?
It was in 2010 when Frederick founded Ovinto.
Up until 2016, Ovinto was financed through Frederick’s own limited funds, with €3 million in grants from European and regional government agencies proving instrumental in the development of both the software and hardware. Bank financing was also needed as the sensors had to be pre-financed.
At the end of 2016 Ovinto raised €1 million equity from a business angel, who helped set the strategic course going forward, in return for a 10% stake in the company.
Two years later and Frederick was contemplating the next steps for further growth.
Key quote
“We don’t know when it’s (the train) going to arrive, and today we receive quite a lot of complaints that the train hasn’t arrived on time.”
Benjamin Twisk, Supply Chain Engineer, INEOS Oxide.
What next?
Frederick faced a number of key decisions regarding his growth strategy.
How much investment should be raised? How could they establish a valuation that would be agreeable to current investors (and Frederick) but would not deter potential investors? Who might these investors be, and what value could they add to Ovinto?
Author perspective
This is Sophie Manigart’s first Case Award, and Vlerick Business School’s third. Vlerick previously won the Outstanding Case Writer: Hot Topic (2015) and Outstanding Case Teacher (2017) competitions.
Winning the award
Sophie said: “I’m honoured to receive this award. I have used other award-winning cases for many years, and now being an award winner myself makes me truly proud and humbled at the same time, looking at the other award winners. It is so encouraging that many educators around the world use this case; it will motivate me to look for other relevant topics and write more cases.”
Case popularity
Sophie continued: “The topic of valuing an entrepreneurial venture is present in all entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance courses. It is highly important for ambitious entrepreneurs and investors alike. Surprisingly though, there are few cases directly addressing this problem in a detailed way.
“The case also uses 100% real life data, both from the company and the venture capital market. This information is presented in various formats, including a video featuring the entrepreneur and excels with the financials. This makes it more appealing to students.
“Furthermore, the case is appropriate for various audiences. Teachers may use it in bachelor or master and MBA courses, but also in executive education, such as targeting entrepreneurs. The problem can be approached in a more technical, quantitative way introducing various valuation models, and is hence appropriate for finance students, but also in a more qualitative way focusing on the different drivers of scale-up valuation, and is appropriate for non-financial students as well.
“Finally, it describes a situation of an ambitious entrepreneur, but not an ‘outlier’. While many students would be familiar with unicorns and their financing histories, and valuations are widely discussed in the press, the reality is that most entrepreneurs never reach a unicorn status. Nevertheless, these entrepreneurs are really important, and understanding their problems and potential solutions is relevant.”
Writing the case
She added: “I was especially pleased to get the full support of the entrepreneur, Frederick Ronse. He was fully open and disclosed not only highlights, but also challenges he and/or the company had experienced.”
Case writing advice
She explained: “Get real insight from the protagonists. Do not only focus on highlights, but bring a nuanced, real-life story. And tackle an important problem.”
Teaching the case
Sophie commented: “I have the advantage that I can invite the entrepreneur to the class. This obviously is a tremendous added value for the students, and makes the story come to life. They have to present their proposed valuation to the entrepreneur, who then comments on their work and explains what has happened.”
Final word
Sophie concluded: “Together with the entrepreneur, we are currently preparing a follow-up case, now discussing the difficult question of exiting the venture. I sincerely hope it’ll be as widely adopted as the first case.”
