ServiceNow, a digital workflow company, along with Keensight Capital, a prominent European growth buyout investor, have recently announced a strategic investment in Plat4mation, a global IT consultancy and key ServiceNow implementation partner.
This marks the first European investment by ServiceNow Ecosystem Ventures, underlining its commitment to accelerating customer value delivery and fostering growth through partners. As a result of this investment, Plat4mation plans to swiftly scale and recruit over 400 new ServiceNow skilled individuals in Germany and central Europe, contributing to the global skilling initiative, RiseUp with ServiceNow.
The primary purpose of this investment by ServiceNow Ecosystem Ventures is to expedite the customer's time to value and stimulate growth through partners via bolstered go-to-market capabilities and improved proficiency in ServiceNow's generative AI-enabled technology. Plat4mation, leveraging its established ServiceNow experience and credentials, plans to extend its reach across the global customer and employee base. Recognising the immense potential of the market, Plat4mation will initially focus its digital transformation initiatives on Germany's Mittelstand sector, which signifies a significant portion of medium-sized businesses in the country.
The Mittelstand sector is a major contributor to the German economy, accounting for 99% of the country's 3.4 million companies. Although industry leaders are keen on digital and AI transformations, they often face challenges initiating processes in areas such as data protection, security requirements, talent skilling, and technological standards. As a European headquartered firm, Plat4mation will leverage its expertise and regional relationships to drive increased ServiceNow adoption.
David Parsons, the senior vice president of Ecosystem Ventures at ServiceNow, emphasised the need for experienced practitioners and partners to help customers enhance the value on their ServiceNow investments amid expanding partner opportunities in Germany and central Europe. He credits Plat4mation's esteemed reputation and instrumental role in delivering compelling business value and outcomes to joint customers worldwide. He outlined Plat4mation's expansion plan to increase its digital transformation capabilities and apply generative AI to targeted use cases among some of Germany's most innovative medium-sized businesses.
Aligning with this investment, Plat4mation aims to accelerate the addition of over 400 new ServiceNow skilled individuals to foster the RiseUp with ServiceNow initiative. Elmer de Valk, CEO of Plat4mation, expressed satisfaction with the firm's trajectory over the past decade, which saw the assembly of a global workforce of over 450 employees who have supported clients by providing ServiceNow advisory, industry, and domain expertise. This strategic expansion into the German Mittelstand market, EMEA, and the U.S signals their ongoing commitment to ServiceNow's success.
Keensight Capital will be investing alongside ServiceNow Ecosystem Ventures, following previous investments made in Blueship Co., Ltd, Japan System Co., Ltd, and ANSR in India since its launch in May 2023.