Prehnit: Financial independence has allowed us to choose projects

Hundreds of workshops for spatial planners and employees of local government units were held by Zagreb’s Prehnit after the introduction of e-plans in 2023 through amendments to the Spatial Planning Act and the Regulation on Spatial Plans of the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property. These are spatial plans created as GIS (Geographic Information System) databases rather than printed drafts. Prehnit won the training project through a public tender from the Ministry, thus becoming the main company supporting e-plans.

With experience in creating next-generation spatial plans, it offers comprehensive GIS solutions and services, from the collection, processing, and analysis of spatial data, cartographic services, drone and LiDAR (light detection and ranging – a remote sensing technology that measures distance using laser pulses and creates a 3D model of the environment) imaging to laser scanning of industrial facilities. It supports cities, municipalities, and private companies in asset inventory, infrastructure registry management, and provides consulting and education on GIS.

– We do not only offer software or raw data but also take care of the entire digital ecosystem of our clients. We often compare this to road maintenance: just as specialized teams with construction equipment and knowledge are engaged for infrastructure, cities and companies can arrange for Prehnit to take care of their digital assets using drones, laser scanners, powerful workstations, and professional GIS software – explains Prehnit’s founder Vlatko Roland.

Innovative platform MAP.

Prehnit was already featured in the Lider column ‘Entrepreneurs’ in June 2023, but as its rise continues unabated, it was interesting to check the updates that have occurred in the meantime, especially since Roland is confident that 2025 will be the best year in terms of business results since its inception. He has managed to increase the percentage of regular revenue, which significantly impacts Prehnit’s financial strength, and he expects double-digit growth in revenue and profit. Furthermore, the company has developed its own innovative modular asset management platform MAP., Mapping Assets Platform, to provide not only software service but also complete data care. The platform has just been protected in Croatia and the European Union.

– The main components of MAP. are the MAP. Geoportal, which provides 2D and 3D representations of spatial data with interactive access to information at a click, and the aforementioned data collection and systematization service as a key difference in our approach. We particularly highlight the ENA module, tailored for efficient property tax collection. It is used by about thirty cities and municipalities, enabling fair and transparent collection of utility fees and taxes using digital twins (digital simulations) of cities and 3D maps captured from the air. Thus, Prehnit is part of spatial computing as its smart digital 3D models are applied in city management, spatial planning, and nature protection. Other MAP. modules include management of public lighting, cemeteries, unclassified roads, concessions, business zones, and green infrastructure for public administration bodies. It is also possible to manage assets, track sales, and plan transport for industrial partners – described Roland.

AI and drone assistance

But it does not stop there. Currently, he is preparing the MAP. module for spatial plans (e-plans) supported by artificial intelligence for interpreting the provisions of spatial plans to provide investors and officials with precise location information. It will also be supported by next-generation 3D models with even greater realism in representation, but Roland does not want to disclose all the innovations he is preparing for now. He has also made the first step in an industry that mainly relies on traditional CAD (computer-aided design) systems by acquiring a professional high-resolution Phase One camera for remote monitoring of industrial facilities using drones and mobile (SLAM) Hovermap LiDAR.

– We have been working in parallel on the commercialization of our MAP. platform, which we successfully presented at the largest global geoinformatics fair InterGeo, where we were the only exhibitors from Croatia. We are partners in the ‘EU Horizon FIC-Fighters’ project, where we are responsible for developing the PEPE geoportal and mapping phosphogypsum landfills across Europe. For the twelfth year, we have also collaborated with the Austrian partner 3BInfra on managing railway infrastructure, and in several projects in the industry, we have applied LiDAR and drone technology for asset inventory, roof inspections, poles, and other hard-to-reach objects. Working with LiDAR and drones in demanding field conditions always presents challenges. From deserts in Africa to dense urban centers and industrial facilities, each project requires adaptation, and the impossible becomes reality. With the camera we use in Prehnit to monitor objects, we can capture a half-millimeter crack from a drone that is twenty meters away. Recently, we mapped an industrial facility full of pipes, valves, and machines using LiDAR. Designers received a technical drawing from us in a few days that would otherwise take them months of work – emphasizes Roland.

In several EU countries, they have worked on projects that included the digitalization of infrastructure using GIS solutions. They are particularly interested in southern Africa, where they operate through their company in Namibia, which opens up opportunities for further expansion for Roland.

Support from HAMAG-BICRO

So far, Prehnit has invested the most in the development of MAP., equipment for LiDAR and photogrammetry, and expansion into the African market; a total of one million euros has been invested in the past five years. Some projects have been subsidized with money from European funds, but Roland adds that they have excellent experiences with HAMAG-BICRO, which has supported the implementation of several EU projects, as well as being an advisor and partner in investing and raising loans for business development.

Vlatko Roland founded Prehnit in 2009 to offer specific geoinformatics solutions based on GIS technology, innovative software, and spatial data for better digitalization and automation of business processes. He decided to start the company to communicate directly with clients and better understand their needs.

– I did not want to work according to pre-defined specifications set by someone else. Simply put, I am not the type for corporate thinking. At the beginning, my favorite niece Sonja and her husband, the late academician Vladimir Bermanec, were with me. He, a top geologist, gave the company the name Prehnit, after the mineral that can only be found in Croatia on Vis, in Komiža. We started the company with our own money, savings, and every kuna and euro we earned was reinvested in development. This independence has allowed us the freedom to choose projects and build a long-term story, not short-term profit. I am immensely grateful to my wife Gordana for standing by me all this time, both professionally as a consultant at Prehnit and personally. Behind every success lies sacrifice, but it was easier to go through tough times together. And after my son Jan graduated in geography from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb, he joined us as a GIS consultant and has recently become a director – states Roland.

Only for the most resilient

The company’s business has been positive since its inception, and revenues reached 1.15 million euros in 2024, which is an increase of 15.3 percent compared to the previous year. Roland notes that with the completion of the MAP. solution development, they could direct more strength towards contracting and delivering new projects, but as sales revenues grew, he observes that this indicates increasing client trust in the MAP. platform and other GIS services. He mentioned that the 35.6 percent decrease in last year’s profit, which amounted to 154,855 euros, was influenced by increased investment in equipment and the general rise in business costs, as well as increased employee salaries.

– Prehnit employs about fifteen employees and is constantly looking for new ones. We need people who love working with new technologies, experts in LiDAR and drones, architects, geodesists, as well as project managers and IT development engineers. Salaries are competitive for the IT sector, employees have flexible working hours, opportunities to work on innovative projects, continuous education, and work with modern equipment. Investing in people is also important to us, as is investing in technology. Last year, we launched an employee reward program based on the company’s success, and they receive about ten percent of net profit as part of bonuses. However, we expect excellence from them. Prehnit is not a place for everyone because we seek people willing to work hard, sacrifice, and fully dedicate themselves to the job. This approach creates top professionals accustomed to extraordinary achievements. Young people who join Prehnit, if they endure a few years, become experts who can choose their path knowing their worth – claims Roland, who recently published a university manual ‘Practical Application of GIS Tools’. Prehnit has a branch in Oštarije where it plans to hire experts from nearby Ogulin, and in Zagreb, it has moved to new premises, which now provide the best conditions for further growth and employment. The team intends to increase to about twenty employees, which Roland considers ideal for working on demanding projects because it maintains high work quality with close collaboration among members.

What’s new in the industry

Speaking about trends in the industry, Vlatko Roland recalls that about 15 years ago, when the company was founded, terms like ‘digital transformation’ or ‘big data’ did not exist in marketing, but Prehnit had them in its offering. The current excitement about AI is actually nothing new to Roland because these are long-standing laboratory ideas that have finally come to life thanks to the rapid growth of computing power.

– Examples include machine learning, pattern recognition, language models, computer vision, and neural networks. These are terms I heard back in the nineties during my studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, then the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. The story is similar with cloud computing. When we talk about GIS, we know that people have always strived to map the world as accurately as possible. Today, satellites in agriculture and environmental protection have resolutions that provide not just trends, but based on this data, it can be accurately determined how much fertilizer is needed per square meter. It is possible to monitor environmental parameters at microlocations and detect fires while they are still in their infancy – says Roland.

In addition to technical data, vast amounts of financial, social, and environmental data are being collected, which has given rise to the most important trend in geoinformatics – digital twins, or augmented reality. These faithful models of the real world can, in his opinion, assist in inventorying the current state and can be used to create scenario simulations and projections.