Continest successfully raised EUR 6.5M VC funding round

Our Client Continest Technologies, developing and manufacturing innovative, foldable modular containers has received a total of HUF 2.4 billion (~ 6.5M EUR) in a syndicated investment round with the participation of DBH, Focus Ventures and Hiventures to support its growth ambitions.

The current investment round is aimed to further boost Continest’s international business development and expansion, as well as to support the establishment of a new manufacturing unit to increase production capabilities.

Continest debuted on the internationally recognized Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary in 2017 with their mobile infrastructure solutions and 2 years later, in 2019, the entire service facility of ski world championship in Sweden was built by their containers. Beyond the purpose of office and event utilization, they are also developing tailor-made solutions for defence and medical industries (mobile COVID-test laboratories). Due to its foldable nature, the sustainable Continest innovation makes the process of logistics 80% more cost-efficient.

To accelerate industry-specific product developments, enter new European markets and support growth ambitions, Continest successfully raised 4M EUR venture capital in 2019 from DBH. Continest Technologies, founded in 2019, achieved a turnover of more than HUF 820M already in 2020, which dynamically increased to HUF 1.6 bln in 2021. 

The global market developments of recent years and the increasing demand for sustainable development have led to global demand for temporary infrastructure solutions. That is why we see the next few years as being the decisive years for foldable modular container technology. Together with our new and existing capital investors, we have the opportunity to scale up and enter new markets with a very stable financing base, further contributing to domestic exports. The construction of our number two plant, which will be inaugurated in September this year, will open up the opportunity to produce in even larger volumes and to further develop our manufacturing technology said Dániel Tegzes, strategic director of Continest Technologies.

In 2021, the company inaugurated its first container factory in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, which is currently capable of producing 1,000 foldable containers per year and provides jobs for 53 employees. In the future, the Continest factory will use Industry 4.0 solutions, and the company’s state-of-the-art sheet metal plant and welding hall will be supported by robot technology for efficient production. The company is also planning a significant expansion of its workforce, with nearly 50 new jobs to be created by 2022. The second plant will also offer the possibility of in-house surface treatment of containers, and the annual production of containers will reach 3,000 units.

The company is currently working on developments such as the fully equipped kitchen container, cargo containers, which are also suitable for freight transport. Another ongoing project is the vertical farm container, which is being developed in partnership with Green Drops Farm and Baptist Relief Services to create a hydroponics-based crop production system without the need for topsoil.

In addition, Continest is continuously developing its containers for medical and defence use. In May 2022, the Hungarian Defence Export Agency signed the first cooperation agreement with the company, under which the military technology agency will assist Continest in international marketing and distribution.

“It was a long journey with full of challenges, but there was no doubt about the success with such a great team!”said the transaction advisory team leader of Continest’s, Lénárd Horgos, partner of Absolvo. “By nature, venture capital is not primarily focused on investing into hardware and manufacturing companies, but Continest is a particularly good case study on how to grow a manufacturing company with rock-solid commitment to a 1+ bn business in a few years’ time and make it an attractive target for venture capital to invest. The Continest success story reflects the exceptional combination of manifested, intensively growing global market potential, a truly innovative and well-customizable technology and a committed, ambitious and visionary management team which is already proven to move its company forward. It was a great honour for us that – after the first successful investment round in 2019 – our team was trusted again to support Continest in preparing, negotiating and closing its current investment round. We are delighted to take part in achieving the current milestone but Continest’s growth journey is not yet over; moreover, I feel confident that a new Hungarian success story is just being born!” – added Lénárd Horgos.

 

Source: official press release