Opportunities within the Lumine Ecosystem
For Collab, access to new telco customers within the Lumine Group ecosystem was an intriguing benefit to joining Lumine. “The ecosystem of customers that Lumine brings is another opportunity that Collab can explore,” said Quintas. “There is an opportunity to grow in a consistent way.”
There was also the opportunity to explore synergies between other telco businesses within the Portfolio. Post-acquisition, Collab met with Advantage 360 and WDS Mobile to uncover any potential opportunities between the businesses.
Lumine can also support Collab’s goals for greater international growth. At the time of inception, Collab was a Portuguese company mostly operating out of Portugal. Expanding into new geographies was not always simple. Within the Lumine ecosystem, not only does Collab have access to new customers in new geographies, but they also have the logistical support, from legal to human resource team, to facilitate deals.
Collab was acquired on March 19, 2020, the day Portugal went into a full lockdown due to health precautions surrounding COVID-19.
Acquisition During COVID-19
Typically, post-acquisition, the Lumine leadership team visits the newly acquired business on-site to launch the integration process. This involves in-person workshops, functional training sessions, knowledge sharing – and of course, some time for celebrations. For the first time in Lumine Group history, this integration was done remotely.
“We worked together, we adapted,” said Quintas. Collab and Lumine worked closely to ensure all the tools were in place to make the integration seamless. “While we lost the face-to face, we still feel so close to the team today,” said Quintas.
Collab’s strategy and go-to-market process will not change. The brand identity will also remain. However, with new expertise and best practices from Lumine Group, Collab will work on a more robust execution moving forward. “We are already learning from Lumine’s best practices –– insights on how to be more productive, how to empower different businesses and environments,” said Quintas. “We will be a different company a year from now, but our identity, our values, will be the same.”
What’s Next for Collab?
Two weeks post-acquisition, Collab and Lumine Group held a webinar for all Collab customers to share more about the acquisition, followed by an open-floor Q&A to answer any customer questions. Transparency is a priority, and Collab wanted to ensure that customers felt empowered to ask questions about what this acquisition would mean for them. Essentially, business will continue as normal. Over the long term, what customers can expect will be accelerated and more focus growth. In addition, customers may also find an opportunity for their own cross sell through different channels within the Lumine Portfolio.
As mentioned above, just one-month post-acquisition, Collab has already met with different businesses within the Lumine Portfolio to uncover synergy opportunities and cross-selling. “We are creating an environment to do better,” said Quintas. Part of the excitement of the acquisition brings this discovery and exploration. Today, Collab is excited to further explore, to accelerate, and to grow their next chapter with Lumine Group.
If someone looking to be acquired values what they have now, and they want to evolve, the Lumine approach empowers that.
—Pedro Quintas, Founder & CEO, Collab
