With mixed emotions we today announce that Phoniro, one of our first investee companies and our market leader in elderly care technology, is leaving the A&D family for a new home within Assa Abloy. We are sad to say goodbye to a family member, but are happy that Assa Abloy will give Phoniro a strong home to continue its growth journey.
We invested in Phoniro in 2012. Phoniro’s founders Johan Hörberg, Magnus Larsson, Magnus Fröberg and their team had a remarkable track record for introducing modern technology to assist large companies and communities with elderly care. We saw that the market was growing, supported by strong underlying trends both in population and in technology. When we invested in Phoniro, the company was already the biggest global player in locks that could be opened with a mobile phone. And it all started with a dating app!
We are so grateful for our journey with Phonrio. During our time, the team managed to transform the company from a product company to a services company, selling the unique Phoniro platform as a service to large care institutions. We also managed to strengthen the board of the company with a few select industrialists, notably Ilija Batljan, founder of Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget, and Josefin Landgård, co-founder of Kry. We also managed to successfully spin out Glue, the platform for in-home services, where we remain an active shareholder together with co-founders Carl-Johan Grandinson and Diego Oliva.
We always had a great relationship with our co-owners, based on the transparent and commercial soul of Phoniro’s founding team. In the early years we had to fight off many liquidity crises and we are thankful to Swedbank in Halmstad who took time to understand our business model and supported us in our growth.
We are very thankful to all of PhonIro’s employees and to all of our co-owners in the company. And the biggest thank you of this note goes out to Pontus Björnsson. Pontus assumed the helm of the company in 2015, levelling up the company in all dimensions. Pontus, we cannot thank you enough.
When Assa Abloy approached us with an acquisition offer, they presented a clear ”1+1=3” vision for the joint companies based on sound industrial logic. Phoniro will be part of a new vertical within Assa Abloy’s Hospitality business unit. We are very impressed by Christophe Sut, Head of Assa Abloy Hospitality, and his team and believe they will provide an excellent home for Phoniro. Together, Assa Abloy and Phoniro will have a modern product portfolio supported by international distribution and state-of-the-art R&D.
We are immensely proud of what we have achieved together with our co-owners and employees of Phoniro and wish the team the best of luck in the future.
With best wishes,
Your A&D team