Hypergene Monterro

Investment year: 2016

Divestment year: 2023

Area: Performance Management

# employees: 200

A snapshot

Hypergene is a B2B SaaS company whose cloud-based solution digitalizes and removes waste, friction, and bottlenecks from budgeting and forecasting processes.

The big wins for its customers? They’re able to gain insight through advanced analytics and reporting capabilities – while also breaking down plans into clear goals, KPIs, and activities.

The results speak for themselves – 93% of Hypergene’s customers have stated that they are in a better position to make decisions after implementing Hypergene.

“We had other partnership opportunities but we were very meticulous about what we wanted. When we joined forces with Monterro, the checklist was complete.” – Per Hidenius, Founder of Hypergene.

The crossroads: Hypergene’s pre-Monterro challenges

Hypergene had a loyal customer base, great technology, and churn numbers most other businesses only dream of. But the leadership team knew that building on these promising foundations meant partnering with a growth investor.

“At that time, we had a turnover of about 120 million SEK and there were many critical areas where we needed the guidance of the right strategic partner. It was vital for our future success.” – Per Hidenius, Founder of Hypergene.

These critical areas included transitioning from an on-prem to a SaaS model, creating and executing an internationalisation strategy, and identifying an ideal customer profile that would power Hypergene's growth.

Finding the right growth partner

Given Hypergene’s promising start, it had no shortage of offers from investors. So what made this marriage between Monterro and Hypergene work so well?

“For me, it was that we connected as people who’d built companies from the ground up rather than investors looking for their next asset. It was a partnership of people who knew the pain, excitement, challenges and opportunities ahead.” – Thomas Bill Revland, Co-founder of Monterro and Chairman of the Board at Hypergene.

In fact, the partnership started before the deal was even signed. Monterro and Hypergene worked together on a provisional subscription-based pricing model – giving all sides a clear idea of the path ahead.

How Monterro helped Hypergene grow

Transitioning from on-prem to SaaS

All sides were aligned on the goal of becoming a SaaS business, but moving too fast too soon could risk damaging Hypergene’s loyal customer base.

To counter this, Monterro supported Hypergene to plan out a phased approach. Phase one would see the business transition to the subscription-based pricing model – and it didn’t have to wait long for proof that it was the right move…

“We closed a deal on the new model within a couple of days, which gave a lot of confidence going forward.” – Per Hidenius, Founder of Hypergene.

Building sustainable SaaS business for the future

After the success of the subscription pricing model, Monterro supported Hypergene to build the foundations of a sustainable SaaS company. This involved strengthening its software capabilities and creating alignment across the business.

“We had a lot of great people with great ideas but we needed knowledge to take the next step and to stop people covering so many jobs. We needed to get everyone pulling in the same direction rather than solving problems in isolation.” – Per Hidenius, Founder of Hypergene.

Monterro aligned Hypergene’s teams around a clear strategic path. This outlined how Hypergene would go from being a consulting company with great software, to a software company with consulting, and finally to a high-growth software product company.

Identifying the right verticals and ICP

A key part of that strategy was identifying which verticals and customers would power Hypergene’s growth – cue some very difficult decisions.

“Sometimes the most important deals are the ones you don’t do. The ‘love all, serve all’ approach isn’t sustainable. You have to be focused and identify which customers and verticals will grow your business in the long term.” – Urban Bucht, CEO of Hypergene.

Monterro helped rationalize Hypergene’s ideal customer profile (ICP) and build roadmaps for key verticals where it could become the go-to solution. As the company built trust in these verticals, it was able to expand beyond its footprint in the public sector, and establish itself as a major private sector player too.

International expansion and clear pricing

With the SaaS model fully embedded into Hypergene’s business, the company now had scalable and sustainable processes, opening the door to international expansion.

Monterro helped Hypergene identify the regions where it had the best product-market fit, rather than just those it was closest to geographically.

“We got the expertise and advice we needed to expand internationally. Especially with pricing. Monterro helped us develop a rigorous pricing strategy we could all align on. This made it easy to package our offering in new markets.” – Urban Bucht, CEO of Hypergene.

“We had very high expectations – all of which were exceeded. It was a journey where the shared ownership incentives and values laid the foundation for a very good and enjoyable collaboration.”

Per Hidenius, Founder of Hypergene.

The importance of maintaining Hypergene’s culture

The transition from a consulting company to a software product company came with a big cultural shift.

Key to the success of the partnership was ensuring that Hypergene’s highly successful consulting and service teams were not alienated by the transition.

“We spent a lot of effort ensuring the services teams felt valued and had a clear vision for the company’s future that they could get excited about.” – Thomas Bill Revland, Co-founder of Monterro and Chairman of the Board at Hypergene.

This effort ensured that Hypergene’s growth path never came at the expense of the identity or cultural fabric of the company.

Key differences before and after Monterro

- - - Turnover of 120 million SEK to 324 million SEK
    - Recurring revenue from 22% to 61%
    - On-prem model to scalable SaaS offering
    - From mainly selling to public sector to private sector clients in key verticals
    - Clear alignment across the business on what success looks like
    - From only Swedish customers to a range of international customers

Advice to businesses in Hypergene’s position

“Seek out people with expertise, a personal approach, and clear communication. You need a straightforward and clear business model tied to clear and aligned incentives.” – Per Hidenius, Founder of Hypergene.

“Don’t get blinded by the zeros. Remember that you’re going to have to actually work with your growth investor – and work with them through some tough times. Who do you want to go through those challenges with?” – Urban Bucht, CEO of Hypergene.