Skyone initiates M&A plan after receiving check from Bewater

In a segment that is still fragmented in the country, Skyone wants to lead the consolidation movement among cloud computing and data management providers. The company has just invested more than half of a R$ 60 million check raised from Bewater about a month ago in two M&As that incorporate smaller, regional competitors. The company negotiated the purchase of DB Master for R$ 6 million and SkyDB for R$ 30 million.

“There is a universe of small data centers scattered throughout the interior of Brazil. We want to consolidate this market,” says Rodrigo Tremante, partner and CFO of Skyone. “Growing inorganically has been very strategic, firstly because of tax advantages and, secondly, because human capital is extremely competitive in our market. It's also a way to revitalize the company.” Four more acquisitions are expected to be announced in 2024.

Skyone's plan is to become a one-stop shop for cloud, data, and cybersecurity services for corporate clients of all sizes. Among its main products, Autosky can diagnose which internet provider best suits each client and connect them to services from providers like Oracle, Google Cloud, and AWS. Simultaneously, it can shut down machines based on inactivity, saving costs, among other functions.

Today, the platform serves around 20,000 clients of various sizes. In retail, these include chains like St. Marche, Mambo, and Atacadão, but the portfolio also includes gas stations, industry players, restaurants, and medium and even small-sized stores. In 2024, the company estimates revenues of R$ 400 million — considering the average growth rate to date, of 60% per year.

Bewater, a management firm led by Carlos Degas Filgueiras, Fabio Armaganijan, and Guilherme Weege, was not the first to enter the cap table. Skyone had already raised R$ 22.5 million in Series A funding with Invest Tech in 2018 and, in 2021, a Series B funding round with Inovabra, from Bradesco, in addition to an angel investment round very early in its operations.

Founded in 2014 by Ricardo Brandão, Caio Klein, Rennan Sanchez, with backgrounds in computer science and engineering, and Rodrigo Burjato, who studied finance, Skyone currently has around 460 employees and expects to hire another 180 by the end of the year. This growth rate has necessitated a more professional management approach.

About two years ago, the startup brought in Tremante to organize things and better structure its expansion. The executive has worked in the financial market since 1996 and has experience at Arthur Andersen, Itaú Unibanco, and BV. At that time, he set up a risk and compliance area and established governance processes, in addition to joining a board. Later, he also brought in a director of governance, risk, and compliance, Renata Barros, with whom he had worked at Banco Carrefour.

The startup believes it can soon achieve unicorn status. In its latest funding round, considered an extension of Series B, the company was valued at R$1 billion. "In two or three years we will be ready to go public."

Check out the article published on Pipeline de Valor .

Written by Skyone