Ceeyu gets tech investor Michel Akkermans and Walter Van Uytven on board to scale Supply Chain Risk Platform for European companies ahead of European NIS2 and DORA regulations.

Antwerp, Belgium, 25 september 2024

Ceeyu, an advanced SaaS platform that automates supplier risk management (aka supply chain risk or third-party risk management) for companies facing NIS2 and DORA regulations, has raised 1 million in growth funding. The investment comes from Pamica NV, the investment firm of Michel Akkermans, and Walter Van Uytven. Both already have the successful 2022 exit of technology company Awingu to US private equity fund KKR for its portfolio company Corel Corporation on their record.  Walter Van Uytven was CEO of Awingu and Michel Akkermans the reference investor and chairman. Pamica has a focus on cybersecurity and has already invested in successful companies such as Approach Cyber.

Ceeyu was founded by cybersecurity expert Jimmy Pommerenke, driven by frustration with the cumbersome processes which companies face in identifying and managing risk at key vendors. The Ceeyu platform centralizes all relevant supply chain risk data in one easy-to-use interface, allowing companies to prioritize and efficiently mitigate risk in collaboration with their suppliers.  “Supply chain risk management, like many other compliance activities, has so far mainly been the domain of large financial institutions. In the next two years, however, it will become a legal requirement for more than 200,000 companies across Europe,” Pommerenke said. “Efficient management of this critical activity is essential to avoid skyrocketing costs. The only viable solution is to use a SaaS platform such as Ceeyu's.” further adds Dries Plasman, COO of Ceeyu.

With the introduction of the NIS2 and DORA guidelines, regulatory compliance becomes even more demanding for companies. Starting in October 2024, companies that provide critical infrastructure, products or services, such as telecom, manufacturing, utilities, transportation and healthcare, must comply with NIS2. Financial institutions will follow in January 2025 under DORA. These regulations mandate the identification and management of supplier risks, such as cyber-attack risk, to ensure business continuity. Small businesses are excluded, but large and medium-sized companies in these sectors are required to comply with these new laws.

Michel Akkermans and Walter Van Uytven expressed confidence in Ceeyu's innovative approach: “Ceeyu offers a unique, user-friendly risk management solution. The platform monitors compliance with various vendor requirements, including Cybersecurity, with automated scans and checks, but still offers the flexibility to use digital questionnaires when needed.”

Walter Van Uytven will assume the role of Executive Chairman of Ceeyu; Michel Akkermans will join the supervisory board.

Ceeyu is already trusted by more than 600 organizations, including the Water Group, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and La Lorraine Bakery Group. By using Ceeyu, these companies are taking a big step in scaling and digitizing their supply chain risk management.  

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About Pamica (www.pamica.be)
Pamica is the investment company of Michel Akkermans. Michel Akkermans is a serial entrepreneur in fintech companies. Amongst others, he was the Chairman and CEO of successful companies such as FICS and Clear2Pay. After the global payment solution company Clear2Pay was acquired by FIS in 2014, he became an active investor and board member in several companies and private equity organisations, as well as a venture partner and Chairman of Volta Ventures. 

About Walter Van Uytven
Walter Van Uytven served as Global Senior Vice President of Technology at Alludo leading the Technology GTM. Prior to this Walter served as CEO of Awingu, a European scale-up that developed a ‘secure unified workspace solution’, acquired in June 2022 by Alludo. He also setup the Cloud division for Proximus as VP Cloud  and was the CEO of Proximus Spear-IT. Today Walter is active as investor, independent director / (non) executive director, strategy & growth advisor to scale-ups , interim executive for local/global technology companies. Walter is also a Global Forbes Technology Council member.