“It's bizarre what we're managing to build”
Embrosa: thinking big with a small team
“We are the Embrosians.” That’s how the nerds behind Embrosa enthusiastically introduce themselves to you. You almost feel as if you already know them. And that’s exactly the goal of these passionate entrepreneurs who believe in the power of local marketing. Local marketing—it sounds simple. But think of an international franchise chain with hundreds of locations. How do you ensure that all these locations simultaneously display the right local message in the right place? Embrosa tackles this challenge every day. Based in Venlo, the company develops smart marketing software. This software allows organizations to easily manage and personalize advertising campaigns for each local location—so easily, in fact, that it even led to the creation of a completely new product.
Meet Embrosa
Melanie van Norden, CEO and co-founder of Embrosa, explains: "With Embrosa, we help franchise organizations and brands roll out marketing campaigns to hundreds of dealers, stores, or franchisees at once. Each location automatically receives its own personalized campaign. Our platform was already capable of rolling out campaigns via Facebook, Instagram, and Google. But outdoor advertising was still missing. That felt like a missed opportunity."
“Buying billboard space is as easy as ordering a pizza online”
Liof & Embrosa
LIOF gave them that little boost
To take that step, Embrosa received support from LIOF through Leandra Schmitz, a business developer. “LIOF has been an investor in our company since 2023 and brought the ‘Limburg Future-Proof’ grant to our attention. Thanks to that support, we were able to work on adding digital outdoor advertising to our Embrosa franchise marketing software.” According to Melanie, the grant not only provided financial leeway but, above all, the opportunity to truly invest in innovation.
Technical Puzzle
That expansion was quite a technical challenge, Melanie explains. “Suppose 300 opticians are participating in the same campaign for an eyewear brand. Naturally, you don’t want Optician A’s ad to appear on the screen right in front of Optician B’s store.” That’s why we developed a smart calculation model. It determines the best-suited screens for all participants at once, including safety zones and automatic personalization for each participant and each screen. And that’s not just useful for retail or franchise organizations—think also of political parties that want to promote a different candidate in every municipality or neighborhood.”
From 1 idea to 2 products
Once the technology was ready, something unexpected happened. "We looked at what we had built for Embrosa and thought: this is actually so simple that anyone can understand it. Why should this technology be available only to larger organizations? A local entrepreneur who wants to buy billboard space in his neighborhood just needs a good, simple tool. And that’s exactly what we had built."
That’s how LocalPanels came to be: a unique platform that lets business owners purchase digital outdoor advertising in their own area themselves. “It’s as simple as ordering a pizza online. You choose which billboard you want to use, upload your photo or video, pay, and the campaign goes live whenever you want. LocalPanels.com is live, so you can set up your own campaign today.”
Ready to keep growing
LIOF remains a shareholder and is actively involved in the company’s growth. Ralf Hendriks, investment manager at LIOF: “Since 2023, they’ve been growing by about 30% each year. Embrosa is becoming a mature platform. They’re ready for the next phase and even faster growth. We’re pleased to be able to play a role in this.”
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A magical feeling
The Embrosians have big ambitions. “Our goal is to help 1 million entrepreneurs with their local marketing every day. And the great thing is: we believe that’s entirely possible with a relatively small team of 4 or 5 Embrosians. Because what we’re building together is truly incredible. And if we eventually decide to sell the company? Then we’ll take some time off first, and after that, we’ll just start over. Creating something from scratch is magical. We want to experience that feeling again.”
It's worth the sleepless nights
Finally, does Melanie have any advice for other entrepreneurs? She doesn’t have to think long about that. “Invest in relationships—with your staff, with investors, with customers. Entrepreneurship is all about trust. Technology is getting smarter all the time, but trust remains the foundation of entrepreneurship. And be honest with yourself as an entrepreneur. Only pursue your entrepreneurial dream if you’re certain it’s worth the sleepless nights over the next 10 years.”
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