The EUR 12m financing will be available to Kontakt.io to support the company’s expansion in the growing indoor spatial intelligence market in healthcare, workspaces, and other smart buildings
The transaction is backed by the European Guarantee Fund
The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed the first agreement with Kontakt Micro-Location sp. z o.o. (Kontakt.io) – an indoor spatial intelligence company developing transformative digital building services that help people secure the space, equipment, and support they need to be productive and safe. Kontakt.io’s solutions enable people to interact in a smarter, safer, and more efficient way using the Internet of Things and AI cloud technology.
Kontakt.io’s R&D location in Krakow, Poland, an EU Cohesion region, will be the focus of AI research activities. The project will therefore contribute to better-balanced local development and digital cohesion in the region.
The financing of projects related to innovation, digital transformation and the development of human capital is a top priority for the EIB Group, which invested EUR 20.7 billion for this purpose in 2021. In Poland, this support increased to EUR 1.5 billion (compared to EUR 1.2 billion in 2020).
EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwinska said: “Financing projects which increase the level of digitalization is one of EIB’s top priorities. We are delighted to support an ambitious Polish player which implements pioneering connectivity solutions. Kontakt.io is one of the companies that shape the future. EIB’s investment will strengthen its competitiveness and market outreach, allowing a wider social benefit. I am thrilled that we can bolster Kontakt.io’s creativity and vision with EIB financing.’’
Kontakt.io CEO Philipp von Gilsa added: “disrupting aging first-generation indoor location markets with cloud-powered, open standard IoT technologies, allowed Kontakt.io to become the fastest-growing Cloud company in the indoor spatial intelligence market. Today, with the support of the EIB, Kontakt.io launches a new focus on the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help reduce building carbon footprint, eliminate process waste and improve resilience of building digital services that impact the quality and cost of clinical care in hospitals, the tenant experience in hybrid workspaces and much more. I am proud of the opportunity to bring the brilliance of our European engineering talent onto the world stage as we continue to innovate and expand Kontakt.io’s footprint in the market.”
Background information
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute toward EU policy goals. The bank finances projects in four priority areas — infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized companies (SMEs).
The European Guarantee Fund (EGF) was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from Poland and the other EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using nearly €25 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to provide loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity, and other financial instruments available to most small and medium-sized enterprises. The EGF is part of the European Union’s recovery package aiming to provide a total of €540 billion to boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.
In 2021, the EIB Group provided €6.5 billion in financing to projects in Poland.
