VEGA Grieshaber KG, a family-owned German manufacturer of industrial measurement equipment, announced on October 2, 2026 that it is acquiring Akenza AG, a Zurich-based company that runs an enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) platform.
The companies did not disclose the price or other financial terms, and the announcement did not give a closing date.
akenza will continue to operate independently and keep its existing customer relationships. VEGA plans to fold the akenza platform into its own range of products step by step, as part of its Industrial IoT business.
What akenza built
akenza sells a platform that connects sensors, devices and building or factory systems regardless of manufacturer, and turns their data into something companies can act on. It is aimed at two markets: smart industry and smart corporate real estate, meaning large organisations that monitor their offices and other buildings.
On its website, akenza describes a self-service, no-code product with a device manager, a dashboard builder, an AI assistant called Genio for querying data and a Building Edge module that links building systems to the cloud. Customers can use it as software-as-a-service or in a dedicated instance on Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. Companies quoted on its site include ISS Switzerland, Georg Fischer JRG and soobr.
The company says it has spent ten years building its technology and that a new use case can be deployed in about ten days. The platform supports multiple tenants, white-label versions for partners, role-based access and single sign-on. ISS Switzerland, the facility services company, says on akenza's site that the platform saves it up to four steps when registering and maintaining devices. These are the company's own claims.
CB Insights lists akenza as founded in 2017 and says it was previously called Hivemind. The company is led by co-CEOs Jonas Schmid and Simon Rieser. The announcement did not give akenza's headcount, customer numbers or funding.
“Together, we close the gap between data collection and its use for informed decisions.”
Why VEGA is buying
VEGA makes sensors that measure fill level, point level and pressure, together with the hardware and software that goes with them. It employs more than 2,800 people, is active in more than 80 countries and sells to the chemical, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, water and wastewater, and mining industries.
The company said the deal expands its digital portfolio and grows its Industrial IoT segment. By pairing its sensors with akenza's platform, VEGA wants to offer customers complete IoT systems, from measuring a value in the field to using that data in decisions.
Isabel Grieshaber, VEGA's managing partner, called the deal an important milestone toward the company's long-term strategic goals and said VEGA's sensors and akenza's platform complement each other. She said it would give customers new ways to make their processes more efficient and transparent.
What changes for akenza
For akenza, the main gain is reach. The startup gets access to VEGA's international sales presence and its manufacturing and industry expertise to help it scale. Jonas Schmid said VEGA would give akenza the global reach and foundation to take the company to a new international level.
Schmid said the combined offer would cut through the complexity of IoT for enterprise customers. He added that akenza would keep adding use cases in industry while continuing to grow its smart building business.
Grieshaber said VEGA was looking forward to welcoming the akenza team and taking the next step together. Both companies described the deal as the start of a long-term partnership. Markus Kniesel, VEGA's managing director, was also named in the announcement.
A hardware maker buys software
The deal is a sensor manufacturer buying a software layer rather than another hardware business. VEGA's instruments measure level and pressure in industrial processes; akenza's platform is built to collect data from many kinds of devices and make it usable for running operations and buildings.
VEGA did not say how many akenza employees are joining, whether akenza's brand will remain in the long run, or how quickly the platform will be integrated into its own products.
