Culebra, Brussels’ corporate ambassador: the first Belgian unicorn

It can be both a unicorn and a deer at the same time. Culebra proves that. The Brussels company is unknown to the general public, but it became the first Belgian company in 2019 Rhino, Which is a startup valued at over a billion dollars. In April of last year, the valuation was over $ 2 billion.

The spin-off of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) was founded in 2008 by Felix Van de Mailey, CEO of the company, and Steen Christians, Peter de Linher and Damien Troj. Collibra has come a long way in the meantime. The early years were not easy for the startup, which had to seek funding to develop and market its data management and analysis programs. But with many investors entering the capital in mid-2010, and especially with the entry of CapitalG, the investment arm of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in 2019, the company has the resources to support its growth. Collibra has already raised a total of $ 345.5 million.

Comprehensive offer

Collibra offers software that integrates data collection, use, and disclosure. It is constantly developing new products that allow its customers to better understand their metadata – that is, data about data – and better manage and automate their business processes.

The first customers came from the financial sector, which remains the largest segment of the company’s portfolio, but it has since expanded its offerings. Collibra also provides government services, particularly in the United States, where it carries out two-thirds of its activities. The other clients are in Europe and the Middle East. Last year, after the outbreak of the health crisis, it temporarily suspended the planned expansion in Asia.

American takeover

Collibra is headquartered in Brussels, with offices in New York, Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Poland and the United Kingdom. It employs more than 650 people and generated $ 120 million in revenue in 2019, with 80% growth rate. In Corona 2020, growth should be much lower, but still around 40 percent, with sales of around $ 170 million.

Earlier this month, Collibra acquired OwIDQ, a US data-quality monitoring company. This is his second acquisition in the US, after SQLdep in 2019. It is likely not the last acquisition of Gazelle, whose American accents are increasingly on the rise.

It can be both a unicorn and a deer at the same time. Culebra proves that. The Brussels company is unknown to the general public, but it became the first Belgian unicorn company in 2019, and is a startup valued at more than $ 1 billion. In April of last year, the valuation was over $ 2 billion. The spin-off of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) was founded in 2008 by Felix Van de Mailey, CEO of the company, and Steen Christians, Peter de Linher and Damien Troj. Collibra has come a long way in the meantime. The early years were not easy for the startup, which had to seek funding to develop and market its data management and analysis programs. But with many investors entering the capital in mid-2010, and especially with the entry of CapitalG, the investment arm of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in 2019, the company has the resources to support its growth. Collibra has already raised a total of $ 345.5 million. Collibra offers software that integrates data collection, use, and disclosure. It is constantly developing new products that allow its customers to better understand their metadata – that is, data about data – and better manage and automate their business processes. The first customers came from the financial sector, which remains the largest segment of the portfolio. It is owned by the company, but has since expanded its offerings significantly. Collibra also provides government services, particularly in the United States, where it carries out two-thirds of its activities. The other clients are in Europe and the Middle East. Last year, after the outbreak of the health crisis, it temporarily suspended the planned expansion in Asia. Collibra is headquartered in Brussels, with offices in New York, Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Poland and the United Kingdom. It employs more than 650 people and generated $ 120 million in revenue in 2019, with a growth rate of 80% in Corona 2020, growth should be much lower, but still around 40%, with sales of around $ 170 million. Earlier this month, Collibra acquired OwIDQ, a US data-quality monitoring company. This is his second acquisition in the US, after SQLdep in 2019. It likely won’t be the latest acquisition of Gazelle, whose increasingly American accents are getting bigger.