AWS partner plots rapid European expansion following first acquisition

HeleCloud CEO tells CRN sister publication CPI that he has European ambitions after landing in the Netherlands

Cloud MSP start-up HeleCloud has laid out plans to quickly consolidate the AWS consulting space in Europe following its first acquisition of Benelux partner OlinData.

HeleCloud CEO Dob Todorov (pictured), told CRN's sister publication Channel Partner Insight (CPI) that OlinData was a "natural choice" as "one of the leading AWS partners in the Netherlands".

"It's beneficial for both organisations to join forces and accelerate the process of us becoming the European leader in cloud services." Tordorov said.

This is HeleCloud's first acquisition, and intended as a continental base for the start-up to establish a presence in the Benelux, which it claims is one of the fastest-growing markets for AWS service usage in Europe.

"It is certainly our ambition is to become the leading AWS partner in the Netherlands," Todorov said.

"And across Europe…At the moment we are based in the UK, and have some delivery capabilities in Bulgaria, But for sure we have pan-European ambitions."

He added: "We are fast growing; we are already operating with one of the highest levels of partnership with Amazon Web Services. We are an advanced consulting partner moving to premier status, as one of only ten in Europe….And what our first acquisition gives us is the ability to scale.

"It will not necessarily give us any more badges. However, it is going to build upon the partnerships that we've established with AWS and allow us to reach new markets much faster, where the capabilities that we've got are going to help organisations make the most of cloud."

HeleCloud is an AWS consulting MSP that was founded in 2016 in Maidenhead, in the south of England.

Financials provided by HeleCloud highlight rapid growth. For its FY 2018, HeleCloud claims its revenues were £3.1m, up from the £0.8m in 2017. Its EBITDA was £150k compared to a £114k loss the prior year.

With the addition of OlinData, Todorov says that the company forecasts growth of more than 200 per cent in the next year alone.

Meanwhile, OlinData has revenues of around €1m and is based in the World Trade Centre in The Hague, with a headcount of 12.

Its CEO Walter Heck told CPI that the business is expected to "double to triple" in size in the next year.

It will maintain its company name for the remainder of the year, being rebranded to "HeleCloud in the Netherlands" at the start of 2020.

Together, both business have a current headcount of around 100. However, Todorov has outlined an aggressive growth via acquisition strategy that could see that number change within months.

"We are looking at acquisitions again this year…And we expect that we're going to be in many of the leading markets over the next couple of years.

"That optimally includes Germany. That definitely includes the Nordics. And we expect to start establishing a presence in central and eastern Europe over the course of the following two or three years as well."

This article first appeared on Channelpartnerinsight.com