Railnova
Railnova is a Belgian IIoT company providing end-to-end railway fleet management and predictive maintenance, combining patented Railster edge hardware with Railgenius and Railfleet SaaS platforms to serve European rail operators, lessors, maintainers, and OEMs including SNCF, DB Cargo, and Lineas.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Railnova does
Railnova is a Belgian technology company founded in 2010 that provides an end-to-end Industrial IoT (IIoT) platform for railway fleet management and predictive maintenance. The platform combines proprietary edge computing hardware — the patented Railster device, which connects to any train bus (CAN, MVB, Profibus, RS232, RS485, J1708, Analog, Ethernet) regardless of OEM — with two SaaS software products: Railgenius for real-time monitoring and predictive diagnostics, and Railfleet for digital ECM (Entity in Charge of Maintenance) fleet and maintenance management. Railnova manufactures Railster motherboards and devices in-house at its Brussels headquarters in the Saint-Gilles quarter, and processes time-series telematics including fault codes, ERTMS data, UIC559 messages, JRU files, GPS coordinates, fuel levels, and component counters, with integrations into Snowflake, Kafka, SAP, IBM Maximo, Oracle, and DeepL. As of 2022, the platform managed approximately 3,955 assets across 50+ railway organisations, processing 720 billion data points and covering 134+ million km traveled.
The company sells to European railway operators, lessors, maintainers, and OEMs through a mix of direct enterprise sales (Brussels-based), a partner network covering regions including Australia and New Zealand, and self-serve SaaS registration on one.railnova.eu. Named enterprise customers include SNCF, DB Cargo (220+ Bombardier Traxx locomotives), Lineas, Europorte, SBB Cargo, Alpha Trains, NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), Alstom (via Masteris), Captrain France, Beacon Rail, RegioRail, and ETF. Revenue is generated through subscription-based software licences for Railgenius and Railfleet, hardware sales of Railster devices, and professional consulting services for digital transformation. The go-to-market relies on a Proof of Concept sales motion (the company reports 100% POC conversion since 2010) rather than RFPs, and the company has stated it has been profitable for several years.
Railnova firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Railnova
- Legal name
- Railnova SA
- Website
- https://railnova.eu
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Railnova is a Belgian IIoT company providing end-to-end railway fleet management and predictive maintenance, combining patented Railster edge hardware with Railgenius and Railfleet SaaS platforms to serve European rail operators, lessors, maintainers, and OEMs including SNCF, DB Cargo, and Lineas.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Railnova industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Railway Fleet Management Software
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Rail Transportation (4882)
- SIC
- Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Railroad Equipment (3743)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Rail Asset Inspection, Monitoring & Diagnostics (Track Geometry, Wayside Sensors) (TLAJADAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Rail Asset & Infrastructure Status Monitoring within OCC (Condition/Alarm Management) (TLAJAEAK), Rail Visibility (Railcar/Intermodal Milestones) (TLAEADAH)
Keywords
Where Railnova is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brussels
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Railnova business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Subscriptions: Railnova operates on a subscription model for software platforms (Railfleet, Railgenius). Customers pay for access to the IoT platform and receive continuous updates, support, and cloud-based services.
- Railster Hardware Sales: Sale of Railster edge computing devices for remote monitoring and connectivity on rolling stock. The hardware is manufactured in-house in Brussels.
- Professional Services and Consulting: Expert guidance and consulting services for digital transformation journey, including business case assessment, process guidance, implementation support, and change management.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Railgenius Enterprise tier with Snowflake data export capability |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Railnova product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Railnova provides an end-to-end Industrial IoT platform for railway fleet management and predictive maintenance. Its offerings combine a patented Railster edge computing device that connects to any rolling stock bus with the Railgenius real-time monitoring and predictive diagnostics software and the Railfleet digital ECM maintenance management platform, enabling railway operators, lessors, maintainers, and OEMs to automate remote data acquisition, perform condition-based maintenance, and digitise maintenance workflows.
Product overview
Railnova is a technology company providing a modular, end-to-end railway fleet management and predictive maintenance platform consisting of three core products: Railster (edge computing IoT hardware device), Railgenius (real-time monitoring and predictive diagnostics software), and Railfleet (digital ECM fleet and maintenance management software). These interoperable building blocks enable remote data acquisition from rolling stock, data-to-value transformation through analytics and alerts, and digitalised maintenance workflow management. The platform is complemented by professional consulting services and supports integration with enterprise systems including SAP, IBM Maximo, and Oracle.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Railster: Remote monitoring and edge computing IoT device that enables safe connection to any type of rolling stock or component and streams data to IT cloud in real time.
- Railgenius
- Railfleet
Products and services
- Railster Remote monitoring and edge computing IoT device that safely connects to any type of rolling stock or component (CAN, MVB, Profibus, RS232, RS485, J1708, Analog, Ethernet), performs edge computing directly on the train, and streams data to the IT cloud in real time. Sold to railway operators, lessors, maintainers, and OEMs.
- Railgenius Real-time monitoring and predictive diagnostics software platform that enables operators to perform and confirm diagnostics on railway assets, filter alerts, create custom rules, and turn fault codes into actionable alerts. Sold to railway operators and maintainers as a cloud or on-premise subscription.
- Railfleet Digital ECM fleet and maintenance management platform providing centralised fleet visibility, digital defect reporting, work order dispatch, preventive and corrective maintenance scheduling, and ECM compliance workflows (roles 2, 3, 4). Sold to railway operators, lessors, and maintainers.
- Expert Guidance and Consulting Professional services for railway digital transformation, including business case assessment, process guidance, implementation support, and organisational change management. Provided by Railnova's in-house experts and consulting partners.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduced maintenance workshops from monthly to nine per year through condition-based maintenance
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Railnova
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Railnova technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability6 records
Feature7 records
Railnova partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.
- Railnova Partner NetworkcoreRailnova launched a partner network to digitalise railway organisations globally. Partners include technology consulting firms, railway experts, IT departments, OEMs, and maintainers. Partners integrate Railnova's technologies as building blocks into railway organisations' existing processes and systems.
- Ecole PolytechniquecoreEuroporte, Railnova and the Ecole Polytechnique collaborated on an innovative approach in predictive maintenance and Big Data usage. The partnership focused on developing advanced analytics for railway predictive maintenance.
- EuroportecoreEuroporte France chose Railnova for intelligent geolocation. This was Railnova's breakthrough contract signed only 9 months after inception. The partnership has continued and grown, including collaboration on predictive maintenance with Ecole Polytechnique.
- Theta InternationalregionalTheta International is Railnova's relay for Australian and New Zealand railway undertakings. They are trusted advisors to transportation and oil & gas companies, specializing in supplying innovative solutions to reduce maintenance and operations costs.
- Alvaro José Zevallos RománregionalIndependent digital transformation expert and partner for Railnova. An acclaimed expert in the railway sector passionate about helping railway companies reach their digital transformation business goals.
- Deutsche BahncoreDeutsche Bahn deployed Railnova technology on 220 Bombardier Traxx locomotives and 16 Vossloh diesel locomotives. The relationship started with a prototype in 2012, followed by a PoC of 10 locomotives in 2013, and first major order of 220 units in 2015.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Railnova competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ZEDAS: ZEDAS provides rail asset management and maintenance software (ZEDAS rail) used by European operators for fleet management, work order planning, and component tracking — directly comparable to Railfleet's ECM/fleet management scope.
- Wi-Tronix: Wi-Tronix provides rail IoT telematics hardware and a SaaS analytics platform for locomotive remote monitoring and predictive maintenance — closely overlapping Railster/Railgenius in North American and adjacent markets.
- Voith (PANDAS / Rail Services): Voith's digital rail services and PANDAS analytics target condition monitoring and predictive maintenance for rail vehicles — a direct functional peer in European rail predictive diagnostics.
- IVU Traffic Technologies (IVU.rail): IVU.rail is a fleet and maintenance management suite for rail operators across Europe; comparable to Railfleet's digital fleet and maintenance workflow functionality.
- R2P (Rail Passenger Systems): R2P provides passenger rail telematics, onboard IT, and fleet management solutions to European operators, overlapping with Railster/Railgenius on rail connectivity and monitoring.
Broad incumbents
- Wabtec: Wabtec is a large rail equipment and digital solutions incumbent with locomotive telematics (e.g., through Lilee Systems acquisition), offering broader portfolio solutions that overlap with Railnova's predictive maintenance scope.
- Siemens Mobility: Siemens Mobility offers comprehensive rail digital services (Railigent, MindSphere applications) as part of a much broader portfolio; competes with Railnova where customers seek integrated OEM solutions.
- Hitachi Rail: Hitachi Rail provides digital asset management and condition monitoring as part of its broader rolling stock and signaling portfolio — an incumbent alternative to Railnova's platform for transit authorities.
- Trimble (Transportation/Rail): Trimble offers transportation and rail telematics, asset tracking, and fleet visibility at scale; broader geographic and portfolio reach but overlapping functional use cases for rail visibility and predictive maintenance.
Emerging players
- Uptake: Uptake is an industrial AI platform with predictive maintenance capabilities for transportation and heavy industry; an emerging adjacent competitor that targets similar asset-intensive verticals as Railnova.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Railnova social profiles
Digital presenceRailnova compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Railnova financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Railnova leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Railnova funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Railnova M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Railnova
What does Railnova do?
Railnova provides an end-to-end Industrial IoT platform for railway fleet management and predictive maintenance. Its offerings combine a patented Railster edge computing device that connects to any rolling stock bus with the Railgenius real-time monitoring and predictive diagnostics software and the Railfleet digital ECM maintenance management platform, enabling railway operators, lessors, maintainers, and OEMs to automate remote data acquisition, perform condition-based maintenance, and digitise maintenance workflows.
Is Railnova a public or private company?
Railnova is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Railnova founded?
Railnova was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Railnova based?
Railnova is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does Railnova make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Software Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are railster Hardware Sales and professional Services and Consulting.
Who are Railnova's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ZEDAS, Wi-Tronix, Voith (PANDAS / Rail Services), IVU Traffic Technologies (IVU.rail) and R2P (Rail Passenger Systems). Broad incumbents are Wabtec, Siemens Mobility, Hitachi Rail and Trimble (Transportation/Rail). Uptake is listed as an emerging player.
Does Railnova have an API?
Yes. Railnova provides a REST API that enables integration with ERP, CMMS, and maintenance management systems. The API exposes component data, allows work order dispatching, and supports continuous data integration via KAFKA streaming interface and Snowflake Datashare for enterprise customers. Developer documentation is at help.railnova.eu.
What industry is Railnova in?
Railnova's product category is Railway Fleet Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is TLAJADAG, Rail Asset Inspection, Monitoring & Diagnostics (Track Geometry, Wayside Sensors), with a secondary code of TLAJAEAK, Rail Asset & Infrastructure Status Monitoring within OCC (Condition/Alarm Management). Its NAICS code is 4882 and its SIC code is 3823.