Software Combined Group acquires NZ firm Activate in first regional move

Software Combined Group, a Sydney-based software aggregator, has announced its acquisition of Activate, an Auckland-based specialist in self-service automation and business processes. The deal marks Software Combined's initial foray into New Zealand and the company's intentions to expand further.

This move signifies the seventh business-to-business (B2B) software firm acquired by Software Combined since it established operations in 2024. Activate has a well-settled customer base throughout New Zealand and is renowned for its long-standing relationship with large organisations and its seamless integration with vendor platforms.

"Activate is a highly respected, profitable and stable business," stated Evert den Hollander, CEO of Software Combined. "Activate has carved out a leadership position in the delivery of smart self-service automation to enterprises, empowering users to manage their own environment quickly and easily. This provides significant productivity gains, while ensuring a level of security, governance, audit and control that is not possible without smart automated management."

In harmony with Software Combined's commitment to fostering local innovation and employment, there's a clear assurance that Activate will retain its brand and cultural identity. With its established presence in Auckland, Software Combined also has plans to contribute actively to nurturing technology innovators, growing employment and ensuring New Zealand intellectual property remains locally.

Founded in 2005, Activate is an industry trailblazer that provides full workflow automation for enterprise end users, simplifying tasks. The Activate platform enables users to self-manage their environment, including Email Lists, Microsoft Teams, Shared Mailboxes, Application Access and Hardware requests, even encompassing the full life-cycle management of employees. This broad functionality contributes to enhanced security and control and significantly reduces costs for a wide range of enterprise customers, both directly and with technology partners.

Expressing confidence in the merger, Ashley Thomas, CEO of Activate, stated, "As a leading and proud New Zealand technology innovator, we are confident that joining the Software Combined Group will not only ensure we can continue to provide our customers productivity and efficiency benefits they have come to expect from us but to access resources and skills to enable us to accelerate our expansion."

Activate was originally created to provide enterprises with smart self-service automation. By changing how businesses perceive IT management and user empowerment, Activate enhances business agility, efficiency, and profitability. Through its software and services, Activate has become instrumental in bringing self-service automation to the market and delivering significant value to businesses.