Sweden's Northern Tech Scores Funding From Atle

Computergram International, April 8, 1999

Swedish software developer Northern Technologies AB says it has received funding from the IT arm of venture capitalist Atle AB, which is taking a 24% stake in the Stockholm-based company. Northern Technologies, which was founded in 1995, develops systems management software for the NT market. Its product line currently comprises three offerings, namely Quota Server, which enables administrators to assign portions of the same hard disk to different end users, remote access manager RasTracker and printer utilization tracker PrintControl.

Northern Technologies' managing director Thomas Wernersson said the company already has distribution in 50 countries, including the US, where it has just set up a subsidiary in California. It had a net profit of $1.9m on revenues of $3.3m in 1998. Wernerss on said the funds from Atle will be used to expand Northern Technologies' business in the US and Japan, where a joint venture with its distributor, the Hitachi Group Ltd, is currently mooted.

Atle was originally a Swedish government agency for investment funding, and now carries out the same function in the private sector, being controlled by pension funds and insurance companies. The investment in Northern Technologies is designed to help the company grow, after which Atle says it will enact an "exit strategy."