Legitimacy and reputation on the one hand, agility and innovation on the other. A marriage of reason, based on solid experience as business partners for several years, has been Mobilu’s trademark for 10 years.
Photo: Led by David Iachetta, Mobilu’s team has built up a strong technological experience over ten years / Credits © Mobilu
David Iachetta has brought Mobilu into life, grown and accompanied it for more than a decade. The startup was first a facilitator of what was then called the “mobility” of companies (hence its name!), which was then the beginning of the era of digital transformation that followed. It is with pride and emotion that he brings his “baby” into the big leagues.
The takeover of Mobilu by the famous Luxembourg law firm Arendt & Medernach accelerates this company which has become a pioneer in the digitalization and robotization of business processes in Luxembourg. It will soon be able to further develop its services within the firm and offer new additional services to its clients.
“We bring our spirit of innovation and agility,” says David Iachetta, the founder of Mobilu. “We are becoming a new entity of the Arendt Group, but I want to keep the startup and pragmatic spirit that we hold dear. Maintaining our agility and mindset is one of the sine qua non conditions of this merger”. Although the acquisition of a majority of Mobilu’s shares by the law firm was announced a few days ago, the project of global integration within Arendt is currently being developed and should be formalized by the summer.
David Iachetta and his team of about ten people aim to digitize all the group’s processes to make it a 3.0 firm. Virtual Data room, Board room, electronic signatures but especially the use of digitalization to improve employee productivity and the quality of customer relations. “The current crisis has accelerated the need for digitalization of relations and file management. This is just one example among many. Associates can’t always travel for a meeting either, everyone is looking for ways to save time and simplify procedures. Their customers are also demanding new digital services: they will now be able to connect directly to all services through our secure portal.”
“All the technological experience we have built up over ten years, our employees and our company’s values have pleased Arendt.”
Prescribing precursors
Elected “Startup of the Year” in 2014 at the Luxembourg ICT Awards, Mobilu has built its profitability on a wise principle: reinvest the profits generated in the company’s capital, without calling on external funds as much as possible. In 2016, the company realised its first pivot towards digital as David Iachetta explains. “It was the beginning of the digital transformation of companies. We took the gamble of the application. We started by replacing all the BlackBerry devices in companies by securing the smartphone fleets and then supporting IT managers in the management of data and applications. We were a step ahead, maybe too far ahead at the time?” Mobilu quickly won contracts with renowned audit and consulting firms across all industries. “These companies weren’t used to working with such small structures as we were,” explains David Iachetta.
Aware of the advantage of being the only one to offer this support service, the team has greatly contributed to the evangelization of digital technology in Luxembourg. It was also at this time that the first electronic signatures appeared and that the digitalization of company meetings and the first needs of modern collaborative work developed.
In 2017-2018 we are witnessing an explosion in demand and the digital transformation is becoming the priority of companies and large groups in particular. Mobilu seizes its chance and places its pawns on the chessboard, despite the arrival of competition. “We had no choice, we had to remain innovative and not only technologically. We made a second pivot in 2018 towards “business critical”, by offering a service that allows each company to transform all its processes autonomously”. This is no longer an optional tool, but a commitment to work differently at all levels. Customers and strategic partners then come forward with requests tailored specifically to their activities. The common thread? The security and adaptability of digital processes must keep the company at the highest level.
“All the technological experience we have built up over ten years, our employees and our company’s values have pleased Arendt. We still have a lot of stories to build and tell, and we are happy to be able to do so with a company as beautiful as Arendt. Accompanying them in their avant-garde strategies, for an entrepreneur, is a great source of satisfaction and pride, perhaps even the pinacle every entrepreneur wants to reach…” concludes David Iachetta.
Today Mobilu is present in two countries: Luxembourg and Portugal and employs 10 people. The association between large groups and SMEs is a fundamental trend, with “business” companies seeking to gain in agility and startups in legitimacy”. There is no doubt that this marriage will make others green with envy and, most certainly, create a following!
