Noldus Information Technology

Abstract

The first software product from Noldus Information Technology was written by Lucas Noldus, the founder, during his PhD research into animal behavior. A number of reasons led to the creation of Noldus Information Technology BV, the attention and positive feedback the software attracted being two of the most important reasons. The desire to be his own boss, the opportunities he spotted for his software in other markets, and the fact that he enjoyed creating tools to support insect behavioral research more than doing the research motivated Lucas Noldus to start his own company. Noldus Information Technology is currently active in over 25 different niche markets and maintains its extended customer base of approximately 5700 customers with offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, China and a development office in Hungary. Their customers, which include universities, academic hospitals, research institutes, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing companies and others, have a wide range of products to choose from. The Observer and EthoVision products are the most important for Noldus Information Technology, since they bring in about 60–70 percent of revenues together. The mission of Noldus Information Technology is: ‘To provide the best possible tools for behavioral research, allowing our customers to improve the quality of their data, increase productivity, and make optimal use of human and animal resources.’ Figures 6.1 and 6.2 show the trend lines of the revenue and employee growth of Noldus Information Technology.