We are thrilled to announce that xyzt.ai has closed its first external funding round, with Heidi Rakels and Eric Lafortune becoming shareholders.

Leuven 09 December 2020 – xyzt.ai ( www.xyzt.ai), the Leuven based technology start-up offering an innovative visual analytics SaaS platform for big location data, announces today that it has received the support of smart investors Heidi Rakels and Eric Lafortune.

xyzt.ai brings its users new business insights through a SaaS platform to visualize and analyze big location data. It does so in a unique and effortless way: customer setup takes less than a day, no custom development is required, and users can obtain the insights they are looking for quickly and easily.

With Heidi and Eric, the company adds a wealth of experience to the team. Heidi was the founder and CEO of Guardsquare, Deloitte's Rising Star in 2016, Deloitte's Fast50 in 2018 and the Flemish Government's Scale-up of the Year 2019. Heidi was also ICT Woman of the Year in 2019 and won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Today she also becomes a board director at xyzt.ai.

Eric, the founder and CTO of Guardsquare, has exceptional technical skills, having built the popular optimizer and obfuscator for Java and Android apps, called ProGuard, which was the foundation for Guardsquare. Eric holds a Ph.D. in Computer Graphics and has engineered multiple high-performance commercial geospatial algorithms before founding Guardsquare.

"This is just the beginning", said Lida Joly, founder and CEO of xyzt.ai. "we strive to give the location data community the experience they deserve. By closing this round of funding, we not only obtain the necessary means for our future development but also gain access to experienced professionals to strengthen our project".

"Location data is everywhere today. It comes in many different forms and from various sources. Its applications are broad and run across several different industries and verticals", said Heidi Rakels, Business Angel and Board Member at xyzt.ai. "After having grown Guardsquare with Eric from a 2-person start-up to an international scale-up, I want to use my experience to help young technology companies succeed as well. I strongly believe in the team of Lida and Bart, two highly driven, complimentary entrepreneurs with the right mindset and skills.  With xyzt.ai, they brought a unique platform to market, and I am convinced that they will make it a great success. They are ready for the next phase in their growth".

About xyzt.ai

xyzt.ai, location analytics at scale, is a cloud-based SaaS platform. The company was founded by Lida Joly and Bart Adams, with its headquarters, in Leuven, Belgium. They are supported by Start it @KBC, one of the largest start-up accelerators in Europe.

xyzt.ai is focused on the Ports & Maritime and Smart City industries, with a strong focus on innovation. The company's business ecosystem includes leading industry players such as Spire Global and Otonomo.

For more info, please contact: Email Contact  or visit www.xyzt.ai