BrazilQvartz adds Asia offices in merger with analytics outfit BusinessMinds
International management consultancy Qvartz has expanded its Asia Pacific footprint with the integration of advanced analytics firm BusinessMinds into its Qvartz Analytics line, adding offices in Manila and Sydney to its existing Singapore outlet.
As one of the Danish-founded management firm’s major arms, which further includes Vertical Strategy, a fusion between a consultancy and an innovation agency with projects including a ‘Future Mobility Concept’ at Airbus focused on the development of flying cars, the Qvartz Analytics line will be bolstered by around 20 consultants from advanced analytics firm BusinessMinds – also of a Danish background but headquartered in Australia with an additional office in the Philippines.
The merger will boost the Qvartz Analytics consulting team to about 30, operating out of Copenhagen, Sydney and Manila in close conjunction with Qvartz’s offices (and some 400 business consultants worldwide) in Stockholm, Oslo, Hamburg, Amsterdam, New York and Singapore – the latter of which was launched in October last year, headed by ex-Deloitte Director Amanda Chin and already attracting big name clients such as Chinese ecommerce giants Alibaba.
“This merger will allow us to combine the best of two worlds – business and technology,” said Qvartz’s current Copenhagen-based analytics team head Jens Friis Hjortegaard, who has been with the 2002-founded advisory for over ten years and will form part of the new Qvartz Analytics partnership group along with Qvartz colleague Rahul Shah, and Hanne Breddam, Philip Parslov and Laura Prophet from BusinessMinds.
“BusinessMinds has a unique track record in developing and deploying advanced analytics while we specialise in applying analytics to create tangible business impact and business insights,” Hjortegaard continued. “We believe this to be a strong combination that will further build our position in the market as well as our ability to deliver world-class analytical insights and actionable strategic recommendations to clients around the globe.”
BusinessMinds’ CEO Hanne Breddam, who is based in Copenhagen and together Philip Parslov founded the analytics firm in 2000, responded in kind; “Qvartz operates on top management level across a wide range of industries, tying analytics to the strategic business agenda. We bring in deep knowledge about data and advanced analytics. Together, we have a unique offering and a unique client network.” A statement noted that the two firms had already been working together on a number of projects, describing the merger as a natural step for both parties.
Forging ahead
Since the announcement, the merged entity has also taken another step, with Qvartz Analytics further strengthening its capabilites by acquiring a small stake in 2021.AI – a 2016-founded artificial intelligence firm with offices in Scandinavia, India, the UK and Ukraine. Hjortegaard said: “We are delighted that we now own a share of 2021.AI. The partnership enables Qvartz to deliver end-to-end advanced analytics projects powered by AI technology for our clients. By combining our competences, we can now go from delivering algorithms and insights to putting these algorithms and models into production and supporting them.”
Qvartz ambitiously positions itself in the strategy and management market alongside the likes of the world’s leading consultancies, and in its home country of Denmark has already outgrown McKinsey, BCG and Bain by number of employees (~190) – many of whom have a background with these firms. According to the consultancy's own data, some 70 percent of the Qvartz partner team have previous experience at an MBB firm. In addition, research and ranking site Vault lists Qvartz as the number one among consulting firms in Europe for company culture.
