About Kiala

Kiala is the leading service provider of Collection Points network in Europe, enabling customers to avoid the disadvantages of a missed home delivery of a parcel.

Kiala targets active consumers buying from a distance (through catalogues, the Internet or teleshopping), as well as the nomad workers (sales representatives, field technicians, promotion agents, small office/home office based workers, etc.) who encounter delivery issues due to their absence from their home during the day.

Kiala set-up a network of Collection Points (Kiala Points), allowing these customers to PICK UP, PAY FOR and RETURN their parcels quickly where and when it suits them best. The Kiala Points network consists of nearby stores (grocery stores, dry-cleaners, newspaper shops, petrol stations, etc.) which offer easy access, wide opening hours - even during the weekend - quality service, no queue and secured storage space. As a result, the customers can optimize their time by picking up their parcels at a place of their own choice.

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The Kiala Points network is supported by a unique technology platform using state of the art communication technology. It allows the automation of all the activities involved in the transportation and delivery of parcels, thus raising productivity and lowering costs to the minimum. The Kiala Points are equipped with mobile state of the art scanners. The heavy administrative tasks and sources of errors disappear from the delivery process. The application also manages the numerous and complex data flows going from and to end-customers, direct selling companies, 'delivery points' and transportation partners. As a consequence, the customers can track & trace their parcel on the Kiala Internet site and they are immediately notified of the arrival or of the delay of their parcel on their home telephone, mobile phone or by e-mail. If they forget about their parcel, they are reminded by the same means of communication. This Kiala technological platform is at the core of the added value provided by the company.

Kiala was founded in Brussels in 2000. After launching its service in Belgium and Luxembourg in July 2001, Kiala extended its network to include France and the Netherlands in October 2002, and Austria in June 2007. Since August 2006, Kiala is also present in the UK through a pilot area in the Northwest region. At present, the Kiala network consists of 4,700 Kiala Points and handles up to 78,000 parcels each day. The Kiala service is available from over 150 companies, including the main mail order companies such as Bertelsmann (ECI, Home Shopping Service), Pinault Printemps Redoute (Le Redoute, Daxon, Edmée, Eveil & Jeux), Yves Rocher and so on. Next to these traditional Home Shopping companies, Kiala could also attract multi channel retailers such as Esprit or H&M and internet pure players like cdiscount or alapage. Kiala is also extending to new segments like the reverse logistic of defective electronic products or the replenishment of spare-parts to field engineers for their repair of the day. In these segments, Kiala is working with leading companies like HP, Nokia, IBM, Unisys, etc.

Consolidated Revenues

Consolidated Revenues per Year

The numerous types of businesses Kiala addresses today

  1. Kiala, the solution to avoid the inconveniences of home deliveries of distant purchases.

    For active consumers, missing the delivery of a parcel ordered from a distance often means the start of a painful process to go and collect it in a place with limited opening hours and queues. The Kiala system allows distance shoppers (catalogue, Internet or teleshopping) to pick up their parcels when and where it suits them most, and return them just as easily if necessary.

    Most major European distance selling companies are now proposing the Kiala service delivery to their consumers as an alternative to home deliveries. Kiala works today with companies like C-discount.com, Clust.com, Damart, La Redoute, M6 boutique, Neckerman, Proxis, RTL la boutique, 3 Suisses, Wehkamp, Yves Rocher,etc.

  2. Kiala, the solution for the deliveries of sales representatives and promotion agents on the road.

    These sales representatives receive regular deliveries of promotional leaflets, coupons, samples, promotional material, etc. Because these people are on the road all day long it can be very difficult and complex to deliver them with the materials they require.

    When using Kiala, these sales representatives can collect it all in places close to their home or close to their clients' locations. Using Kiala enables these companies to better optimize the time and the productivity of their people on the road, and benefit from a lower logistical cost.

  3. Kiala, the solution for the delivery of promotional items.

    Regular promotions can help built customer loyalty, however, usually these promotional items are shipped through the national post. As a result the companies have poor traceability and visibility on their deliveries, no decent hand over system and often only a small network of delivery points. All these disadvantages do not measure up to the effective results they are looking for.

    When using the Kiala service the inventory and distribution costs are reduced and the service level goes up. The promotional items are delivered with predictability, a hand-over procedure and finally result in satisfied customers who can now choose where and when to pick-up their gifts.

  4. Kiala, the delivery alternative for express courier companies.

    The Kiala system is also an excellent alternative for the missed express deliveries due to consumers being absent from home. After a first failed home delivery attempt by the express courier company, the express delivery man leaves a notice behind mentioning he attempted delivery and inviting the consumer to collect his/her parcel in the closest Kiala Point in the neighborhood, when it best suits his/her agenda.

    Doing so, the consumers enjoys the convenience of a Kiala delivery (no need to reorganize its diary to fix a new appointment with the delivery company) while the express courier company can significantly reduce its delivery costs.

  5. Kiala, the solution for the return of defective electronic devices to repair centers.

    Here again Kiala can generate major service level improvements for the after sales service of electronic products. After a first contact with the manufacturer's call center, the consumer sends his defective device to the repair center through a Kiala Point. Once repaired the electronic device is send back to the consumer via Kiala. The consumer is notified of the parcel arrival and picks it up whenever it best suits him/her. The consumer no longer needs to wait at home for a technician to call by or go to a far away store.

    Such a partnership combines convenience, costs reductions, savings of time and resources for both the consumer and the manufacturer. The first partners who joined Kiala with this concept are Fujitsu Siemens and HP.

  6. Kiala, the solution for time critical deliveries to field technicians on the road.

    Kiala has set up a specific network for time critical deliveries, next day morning before 08.00 am. This network comprises petrol stations and small transport companies located on the outskirts of major cities and at the cross section of major traffic routes.

    Technicians can replenish their spare-parts early in the morning close to their home or close to their clients location. The parts are hand-over from person to person, guaranteeing a perfect traceability of all parts delivered and returned.

    By working with Kiala, these companies can better optimize the time and the productivity of their technicians on the road, they have a permanent visibility on the delivery status of all the spare-parts and benefit from a lower logistical cost.

    This dedicated network is only available in Belgium and Luxembourg for the moment. The first partners who joined Kiala with this concept were IBM, Motrac and Apem.

Facts about Kiala

Launches & Roll-out:

  • Belgium and Luxembourg: July 2001.
  • France and Holland: October 2002.
  • Austria: June 2007
  • UK: Initial pilot region launched in July 2006. 130 Kiala Points available in the Manchester-Liverpool-Preston.
  • Rest of Europe: to be launched in 2008-2010.

Key figures:

  • 4.700 Kiala points spread over France (3.500), The Netherlands (400), Belgium (420), Austria (250) and UK (130).
  • Up to 78.000 parcels handled per day
  • Turnover: 2002: € 1,5 million, 2003: € 6 million, 2004: € 16,3 million, 2005: € 20,5 million, 2006: € 25 million.
  • More than 35.000.000 parcels transported since the launch.
  • Most major European distance selling companies have joined the Kiala network including the two companies that have invented the concept, La Redoute and 3 Suisses.
  • Between 10% and 50% penetration of the Kiala service, according to the distance selling partner profile.
  • Outstanding consumer acceptance and satisfaction:
    La Redoute survey results (Belgium):
    • 97.5% of consumers found the KP manager reception excellent or very good (top 2 on a scale of 5).
    • 97.0% of consumers found their parcels to be excellent or very good securely kept (top 2 on a scale of 5).
    • 98.5% of consumers claim their parcel was in perfect condition, not damaged.
    3 Suisses GD Luxembourg survey results:
    • 98.2% of consumers found the KP manager reception excellent or good (top 2 on a scale of 3).
    • 95.0% of consumers claim they will now continue to be delivered in a Kiala Point.

Awards:

The People:

A truly European company with currently 91 employees, with 12 nationalities and with various backgrounds, coming from leading companies like Alcatel, Andersen, FM Logistic, Nestle, Procter&Gamble, Price Waterhouse Coopers, DPD or TNT Express.

The Founders

Denis Payre

ESSEC (Paris) MBA graduate. Co-founder and president of Kiala, Denis Payre is one of the two people behind the successful software company Business Objects, created in 1990. Co-founder and COO for 7 years, he increased sales to 100 million euros, doubling revenues for five consecutive years. He was responsible of the global operations and marketing, representing 80% of the workforce. He set up a multinational company represented in 60 countries and world leader in the Business Intelligence space, reaching a market capitalization of 1 billion euros. Business Objects was the first European software company to be listed on the American NASDAQ, where it enjoyed the most successful public offering of 1994. Denis Payre was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Business Week, US edition, in 1996. He has also set up an association of growth entrepreneurs called Croissance Plus in Paris and is the Vice-President of Growth Plus in Brussels. After launching Kiala, Denis Payre was listed twice on the top 25 list of technology and innovation leaders in Europe together with Hasso Plattner of SAP and Jorma Ollila of Nokia.

Marc Fourrier

Polytechnic (Paris) & MIT degree in economics of logistics. Co-founder of Kiala. He co-founded several consulting firms in IT and supply chain management, including Eurosept Associates, which he sold to EDS, and Cleversys, which he sold to Kurt Salmen & Associates. He currently works as a venture capital investor on a personal basis through his company Delphis. He is also the co-founder and board member of technology companies Ilog and Wavecom, both listed on the American NASDAQ.

The Management Team

The Corporate Management Team:

Daniel Lievens, VP IT & Organization

  • Belgian nationality.
  • Commercial engineer graduate KUL, Belgium.
  • Siemens: Consultant on internal process and IT, in Belgium / Germany - 3 years. Worked on ERP implementation and operations/logistics optimizations.
  • Arthur Andersen: Manager - 6 years. Focused on information strategy planning, knowledge management and e-business services.
  • Joined Kiala in July 2000.

Luc Pirenne, Director new countries UK/Spain/Austria & Corporate Director Marketing

  • Belgian nationality.
  • Commercial engineer graduate, ICHEC, Belgium.
  • Procter & Gamble: Senior marketing position - 6 years. Brand manager for P&G biggest brand Pampers, Pantene Pro-V, Bounty. Set up strategic marketing Partnerships with retailers Carrefour and Delhaize.
  • Joined Kiala in March 2001.

Yves Humbert, Chief Operating Officer (COO)

  • French nationality.
  • Graduate from Ecole Centrale de Paris in Nuclear Engineering.
  • Accenture: Partner, specializing in the Communication and High-Tech industries; led numerous management consulting and process reengineering projects in areas including Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management and Finance; 21 years.
  • Joined Kiala in February 2006.

Jean-Marie Arnould, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

  • Belgian nationality.
  • MBA graduate from University of South Carolina.
  • Manugistics, inc. – 4 years: VP Finance EMEA. Participated in the re-engineering and the restructuring of the European operations, going from a direct to an indirect model and from a country-specific to a centralized pooling of resources. Implemented a pan-European accounting system.
  • General Electric & co – 5 years: Finance Director GE Power Controls Benelux (200 m Eur turnover for 25000 SKU’s). Met quarterly targets in terms of cashflow and operating margin every quarter during his tenure.
  • Joined Kiala in May 2006.

The Local Management Team:

Frank Jahn, Director International Accounts

  • Danish nationality.
  • Emery Worldwide: various sales & service positions.
  • BAX Global: various sales & service positions.
  • TNT Express: Branch Sales Manager & Country Field Sales Manager.
  • Joined Kiala in July 2000.

Philippe Delaide, Chief Executive Officer - Kiala France

  • French Nationality.
  • Commercial engineer graduate, ESC Rouen – IEP Paris
  • Accenture: 19 years – 10 years as Partner. Member of the France and Benelux Executive Committee within the Communications, Media and High Tech Industry. Client Partner of key Telecommunications Accounts. Led several large Systems Integration and Process Transformation programs in the Customer Service, Billing and Supply Chain Management areas.
  • Joined Kiala in December 2006.

Pablo Ramos, Country Manager Espagne

  • Spanish Nationality.
  • Diplome in Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
  • CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) by APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society)
  • 10 years of experience at Accenture, 4 of them as a Manager, specialized in systems integration and reengineering projects of the Supply Chain, covering the functional areas of demand planning, MRP, manufacturing, subcontracting, purchasing, warehouse and inventory management and distribution. Working for telecom, chemical and aerospace industry clients.
  • Joined Kiala in April 2007.

Peter Henderickx, General Director Benelux

  • Belgian nationality.
  • Civil engineer (MSc) in electricity, UCL - Louvain-la-Neuve & Post-graduate in applied economics, KUL - Leuven
  • Accenture: Experienced manager in supply chain – 7 years. Worked on logistics improvement projects for clients like OPG, Electrabel, Usinor, Mobistar, Glaverbel, …
  • Van Looy Group: Founder of 3logX and BU manager supply chain consulting – 3 years. Responsible for the supply chain consulting business unit. Worked on logistics improvement projects for clients like Makro/Metro, BASF, Panasonic, …
  • Flightcare Belgium: Director cargo handling – 3 years. End responsibility (P&L;) for all activities (strategy, operations, business development, quality and projects) of the cargo division in Belgium (240 heads, 140.000 Tons/year).
  • Joined Kiala in January 2008.

The Shareholders

Despite a very difficult economic context, Kiala could raise 30 million EUR from several solid and knowledgeable investors including:

  • AGF Private Equity, Paris
  • Arts Alliance, London
  • HarbourVest
  • Logispring (TNT Post Group/ Booz Allen and Hamilton), Amsterdam
  • Part'com (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations), Paris
  • X-Ange, Paris
  • Nova

AGF Private Equity (France)

AGF Private Equity, subsidiary of the AGF Group. AGF is the third largest insurance company in France. Since 1998, AGF has been a member of the German Allianz Group, the biggest insurance company in Europe. AGF Private Equity has acquired expertise in the follow-up of young, innovative companies. AGF Private Equity is managing EUR 150 million invested in more than 38 technological companies.

Arts Alliance (United Kingdom)

Founded in 1996, Arts Alliance is a venture capital organization, which advises on investments in the media and technology-based service sectors out of London and New York. Arts Alliance assists funds, which have invested, in more than 35 companies in Europe (Lastminute.com and Institutional Investors international that have both listed on the London Stock Exchange) and the USA (e.g. Spinner, PlanetAll, Launch and Firefly which have been sold respectively to AOL, Amazon, Yahoo and Microsoft).

HarbourVest Partners

HarbourVest Partners, LLC is an independent global private equity investment firm and registered investment advisor, providing vehicles for institutional investors to invest in the venture capital and buyout markets in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere through primary partnerships, secondary purchases, and direct investments. HarbourVest and its subsidiaries have 127 employees, including 53 investment professionals, deployed in Boston, London, and Hong Kong. In 25 years of investing in private equity, the team has committed more than $15.4 billion to newly formed funds, purchases of secondary partnership interests and direct investments in operating companies. www.harbourvest.com.

LogiSpring (Switzerland)

LogiSpring is a vertically focused venture capital firm investing in early-to-late-stage ventures with technologies and solutions expected to have a significant impact on global supply chains. LogiSpring focuses on a limited number of industries, including logistics, supply chain management, mail and express, and operates with a global mandate. The Firm's scope of supply chain activities covers the whole chain, from sourcing through conversion and assembly to distribution, and includes the planning, optimisation and execution management of manufacturing, transportation, logistics, mail and express delivery. Its current fund, LogiSpring Investment Fund, sizes USD 120 million. The Fund's charter is global, its portfolio mostly transatlantic. Investors in the Fund include TPG NV (formerly TNT Post Group NV) and management consultant Booz-Allen & Hamilton. www.logispring.com.

Part'Com (France)

Created in 1986 by the Caisse des Depots Group, Part'Com manages private equity investments in media & entertainment, communications and information technology ventures. With 500 million EUR under management in Europe and the US, Part'Com helps build successful companies such as SFR, Phone.com, Wavecom, Kiala...

Xange Capital (France)

Xange Capital is a venture-capital company recently established by the French group La Poste, which holds a 34% stake, and by several other prestigious institutional and industrial investors. The company, dedicated to the "World of the Exchanges" has an industrial focus on businesses related to postal activities, which are likely to generate synergies and partnerships. It benefits both from the contribution of the La Poste group and that of its technical partners Alten and Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance.