BOSTON, May 4 — Battery Ventures portfolio company steute Technologies continues to expand across its core markets, partly through three new acquisitions announced over the last three months.
Taken together, the three transactions significantly broaden steute’s global reach, engineering capabilities and product portfolio, positioning the company as an increasingly comprehensive partner for OEMs, distributors and end-users worldwide. Battery—a global investment firm with a growing focus on sensor, automation and other applied technologies—first invested in Lohne, Germany-based steute in 2024.
Steute is moving decisively to build scale across both of its core medical and industrial safety divisions. The new add-on acquisitions also add a U.S. manufacturing footprint to steute’s existing platform of switching devices, sensors and wireless networks. Steute’s medical products include devices that help precisely control critical medical equipment in operating rooms, among others; on the industrial side, steute’s sensors and other technologies help improve safety and reliability in difficult manufacturing environments, including those that must withstand explosive or corrosive conditions and extreme temperatures.
The three new announced acquisitions are:
- Oldelft Ultrasound (closed March 2026): steute acquired Netherlands-based Oldelft Ultrasound, global leader in high-performance, miniaturized ultrasound transducers primarily used in cardiology applications, from investment firm Smile Invest. Founded in 1985 and operating from its headquarters and production facility in Delft with approximately 90 employees, Oldelft partners with globally recognized OEMs in the medical-imaging sector.
- KIEPE Industry (closed March 2026): Düsseldorf-based KIEPE Industry, a specialist in industrial switching for the bulk-handling sector, was previously part of the KIEPE Electric Group. Since the late 1960s, KIEPE Industry has designed and manufactured electromechanical and electronic safety and monitoring devices for industries ranging from mining to agriculture. The acquisition bolsters steute’s Controltec division with decades of application knowledge and a broad product range.
- Electro-Sensors, Inc. (announced April 2026; pending close): steute entered into a definitive agreement this month to acquire Electro-Sensors, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELSE), a U.S.-based manufacturer of industrial machine-monitoring sensors and hazard-monitoring systems. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Electro-Sensors serves customers across multiple industries with rugged and reliable monitoring products. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions including shareholder and regulatory approvals, will further expand steute’s industrial product and service offerings and establish a manufacturing presence in the United States.
“This quick succession of acquisitions demonstrates the kind of focused, strategic growth we envisioned when we first partnered with steute,” said Jesse Feldman, a Battery general partner and steute board member. “Across medical technology and industrial safety, steute is assembling a powerful platform of differentiated, mission-critical sensing and control products.”
“We still see significant opportunity to expand the group’s global market reach and pursue additional complementary acquisitions,” added Maximilian Jessen, a Battery Ventures investor also active with steute’s board.
Battery is continuing to expand its investment activity in the applied technology markets and has completed more than 90 such transactions across North America and Europe since 2003.
