We started as four companies (Malengo, Qvision, Embrace & Umbrella) with three successful products. We believe that together, we can be more than the sum of the parts. So we focused on the question: “how do you forge four dynamic software clubs into one mature and professional IT company with significant growth ambitions?” We've found the answer, but to put our imminent transformation into perspective, let's take a look at our history.
Our story begins in 1989, when two Philips employees left the Eindhoven company. They were allowed to take the technology developed there to display images on computers — that was still possible back then. It wasn't long before the two founded the company Qvision in Eindhoven.
In August 1996, a small group of entrepreneurs started the company @lantis in Enschede. Their first customer was the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Twente; for them, @lantis built what we now call a CMS. Around 1998, the company moved to Sneek. This had everything to do with the enormous amount of work it received from its largest customer, Rabobank. At the turn of the millennium, @tlantis merged with Digital Emotions from Leeuwarden; together, they continued as Vincis in Sneek.
Around the same time, Aqtion, a small web agency, was founded in Vlagtwedde in Groningen. Years later, on Valentine's Day 2012, Vincis and Aqtion found each other. And as is the case with two lovers in a harmonious relationship: they became one together. Under the name Malengo, they went into the future with fresh courage. Malengo quickly became one of the largest internet agencies in the north.
In 2013, after an immaculate conception, Malengo gave birth to twins: Umbrella and Embrace. Both will have their own team. In the years that followed, Malengo and both her children won several awards: two Intranet Innovation Awards, three Deloitte Fast 50 seats, three FD Gazelles — enough, we're not going to sit here bragging.
Meanwhile, in the south, Qvision was also growing well. For example, in 2012, the Eindhoven club built the first mobile website for home seekers in the Netherlands and expanded its portfolio with a short stay solution. In 2015, Qvision was able to add the largest partnership in the field of residential mediation in the Netherlands to its customers.
In 2018, the circle will be complete. Qvision is lovingly welcomed into the Umbrella, Malengo and Embrace family — the U/Me family. The small company, once started in an attic in Vlagtwedde in Groningen, has thus grown into an organization with more than 150 colleagues across the country and far beyond. From Zeeland to Friesland, from Sofia to Novi Sad.
Over a period of thirty years, many different company names came by — you read it yourself. It didn't always make things clearer, not even for ourselves. What's the difference between Embrace and Umbrella? And what about Qvision exactly? Are they separate products or are they also different companies?
It would only be really easy if there was just one name. That's why it's time for a new adventure. Together, we will continue as one company, with one name.
On Monday, July 1, we will announce our new name and show you our new branding. Are you curious? You don't have to miss it, because we'll make it a little party!
Together, we are better.
