Artefact acquires UK consultancy Arca Blanca
Data transformation consultancy Artefact has acquired UK-based data consulting company Arca Blanca. The deal expands Artefact’s footprint in the UK and supports its growth ambitions to triple both its revenue and workforce by 2025.
Artefact is an international data services company specialising in data transformation, data and digital marketing consulting. With more than 1,000 employees, the multidisciplinary firm helps clients innovate their operations with artificial intelligence and agile working methodologies.
Since being founded in 2018, meanwhile, Arca Blanca has achieved a compound annual growth rate of around 40%. It operates across a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, infrastructure and property, private equity and financial services, thereby complementing Artefact’s strengths, particularly in FMCG, retail, luxury and beauty, and eCommerce.
Pascal Coggia, Managing Partner of Artefact UK, said of the acquisition, “Our two companies share an ambitious vision and are fully aligned on how we should bring the best data consulting, data science and software engineering capabilities to market at scale. Our complementary expertise across the full scope of industry sectors and AI technologies will result in enhanced services and deliver incremental value to both our clients and joint teams in the UK.”
Arca Blanca is regularly recognised as a top performer in the UK consulting sector, and was recently handed two highly-commended nods at the 2022 MCA Awards. The acknowledgements came in the Strategy category, and the Change and Transformation in the Private Sector short-list, related to a project it oversaw with Landsec.
As organisations in all industry sectors rapidly shift to data-driven business models to accelerate their business transformation, Arca Blanca’s experienced team of more than 100 data scientists, technology specialists, business consultants and industry professionals will now join Artefact’s data experts. The agreement will augment the Artefact’s offering, bringing new and expanded data and AI solutions to Artefact, while Arca Blanca clients will benefit from wide-reaching, enhanced partnerships with technology providers.
Ravi Lal-Sarin, CEO and founder of Arca Blanca, added, “Joining forces with Artefact was an easy decision. Technology and expertise are definitely key, but just as critical to future success are company cultures and fit. In Artefact we see a partner with the same entrepreneurial and innovative outlook, belief in a fully collaborative and cross-disciplinary way of working, and commitment to delivering excellence and tangible results for clients.”
Looking ahead, Artefact aims to become a global independent leader in data consulting – and Arca Blanca’s purchase is the latest in a succession of deals to help make this a reality. In 2021, Artefact acquired Vivadata to facilitate the Artefact School of Data (which offers high-level education and training on data and AI to clients and professionals); in September 2022 it purchased Start-up Inside to deliver AI hackathons and data democratisation through large international conferences, and in November 2022 it acquired Moroccan consulting Adalyne to accelerate the deployment of Artefact Africa. The firm is backed by the strategic support of international private equity firms Ardian and Cathay Capital.
Vincent Luciani, CEO and co-founder of Artefact Group, concluded, “We are proud to welcome Arca Blanca to the Artefact family. Combining the talents of both companies positions us as a pivotal player in the UK and beyond, as organisations recognise the vital role that data transformation plays in today’s challenging environment. It is also another major milestone in our ambitious growth strategy aimed at becoming a key leader in global data consulting services.”
