Equiteq has acted as corporate finance advisor to MML Capital on its investment in Kickmaker, the leading specialized outsourced engineering and product development consultancy in France.
Founded in 2016, Kickmaker assists companies in the full end-to-end design process, helping its blue-chip and high-growth scale-up customers in their product development and production by working on design strategy, creating prototypes, industrializing production, and managing the lifecycle of the product. It has deep expertise in robotics and the integration of electronic and mechatronics systems.
Kickmaker has presence in France, China, and the US and employs almost 250 engineers. The organization has seen rapid organic growth thanks to its market-leading position in France and the tailwinds of the French government’s Industrial Strategy. Kickmaker plans to capitalize on the level of demand in the US from its existing customers, as well as strengthening its focus on ecodesign and decarbonization of industry, WEB3, and industrial design.
This transaction marks MML’s second Enterprise Strategy investment. The deal sees MML partnering with co-investor Bpifrance alongside material reinvestment from existing investor Generis Capital Partners.
Luke Jones, Managing Partner (Enterprise) at MML comments, “We are very excited to be joining Nathalie, Eric, Vincent and their team at such an exciting stage in Kickmaker’s journey with the business already enjoying rapid organic growth and having built a market-leading reputation in France. We see significant potential to support further acquisitive growth, consolidating businesses with deep expertise in areas such as web & apps and industrial design, as well as supporting the company to expand internationally, especially into the US where we are already seeing particular pull coming from Kickmaker’s existing client base.”
Emmanuel Kostucki, Managing Director at Equiteq comments: “It was a pleasure working with MML on this transaction. Kickmaker has quickly become the market-leading specialized outsourced engineering and product development consultancy in France. MML’s investment will support Nathalie, Eric, Vincent, and their team to continue Kickmaker’s growth globally and expand its expertise to create further value for its clients.”