What is Growl specialised in?

Search advertising (SEA), Conversion rate optimisation, SEO & GEO, Website development.

Around 1 full-time equivalent (financial year 2026).

Review: Growl

Q: Who are the clients of Growl?

Among others Miraeus Cocktails, Gondella, microStart, Akurad Advocaten, Willow, Pollet Water Group.

Growl bestaat sinds 2020 en profileert zich als digitaal bureau (web & platform) uit Sint-Niklaas. De opgegeven expertises zijn webdevelopment, paid media (sea/social/display) en seo. Het zwaartepunt ligt bij opdrachtgevers uit organisaties met ambitieuze groeifocus en b2b (europa). Publiek gekende klanten zijn onder meer Miraeus Cocktails, Gondella, microStart en Akurad Advocaten.

1

How this agency makes money

Revenue, margin and what an hour of work brings in. Everything on the earning side sits together here.

Revenue trendgross margin per financial year

20222023202420252026

Latest year: € 433.685 gross margin, growth +176,7% against a sector median of +3,1%.

At or above sector pace

MarginEBITDA / gross margin · value-added coverage

20222023202420252026

GrowlSector median

EBITDA margin 90,7%, sector median 22,6%. Value-added coverage 10,93 (median 1,23).

Healthy margin

Revenue per headGross margin per FTE, against payroll cost

€ 433.685

Median (2025) € 77.398

Against a payroll cost of € 39.593 per FTE. The ratio between the two is the coverage rate above.

Above the median

Yield levelYield per hour worked, against payroll cost

€ 253

Median (2025) € 48

1.716 hours worked, 1.716 per FTE. Against that sits € 23 of payroll cost per hour worked, leaving € 230 for premises, equipment, depreciation and profit.

Above the median

No hourly rate follows from this. Gross margin is already net of services and sundry goods, which mixes rebilled production with the agency's own overhead, and the accounts do not say how many hours were billable. Deriving a rate from this systematically understates it.

2

Can the agency take a hit

Buffer, cash position and payment behaviour side by side, so you can see where they disagree.

Bufferequity in months of payroll

Buffer: 100,2 months (median 5,3 mo). Equity in the latest year: € 330.538.

Adequate buffer

Cash positionAvailable cash, and whether it covers short-term debt

Cash € 374.271. Liquidity ratio 3,05: current assets cover short-term debt in full. Solvency 67,7%.

Amply covered

Payment behaviourTowards suppliers and towards the NBB

Trade payables correspond to 7 days of supplier credit, sector median 46. The accounts were filed 196 days after closing; the legal deadline is seven months.

Pays and files on time

3

Signals and strengths

Events from the CBE and the Official Gazette over the past 24 months, plus positive markers derived from the figures.

Continuity

No serious signals

Signals in the last 24 months

Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Oct 2026 · Google Autocomplete

Click a signal for a plain-language explanation. Each signal is a fact from a public source, without the agency's own context. Best to ask them directly.

What this agency does well

Gross margin grew 4 years in a row
EBITDA margin above the sector median (90,7%)
Profitable in every one of the last 5 years
Strong buffer: 100,2 months of payroll in equity
Stable team (no meaningful FTE loss)
Value-added per euro of payroll above the sector median (10,93)
Margin per hour worked rose 3 years in a row
Healthy working capital (current ratio 3,05)
Comfortable cash position: 3450 days of payroll

Each point is a fact from the filed annual accounts, measured against the same thresholds and sector medians as the signals above.

4

All the figures

Reference material, not a starting point. Expand it if you want to read the series yourself.

5 financial years, 2022 to 2026Result, staff and balance sheet

	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Result
Gross margin	€ 23.418	€ 69.151+195,3%	€ 121.712+76%	€ 156.714+28,8%	€ 433.685+176,7%
EBITDA	€ 15.850	€ 21.226	€ 79.680	€ 121.609	€ 393.263
EBITDA margin	67,7%	30,7%	65,5%	77,6%	90,7%
Staff
FTE	0,2	1,0+400%	0,9-10%	1,0+11,1%	1,00%
Gross margin per FTE	€ 117.091	€ 69.151	€ 135.236	€ 156.714	€ 433.685
Payroll cost per FTE	€ 36.265	€ 47.787	€ 45.879	€ 32.941	€ 39.593
Balance sheet
Equity	€ 12.985	€ 21.688	€ 36.447	€ 118.712	€ 330.538
Cash	€ 61.304	€ 50.328	€ 111.464	€ 146.937	€ 374.271
Liquidity ratio	1,05	1,09	1,16	1,83	3,05

Payroll cost per FTE comes from the social report where available, otherwise from the Remuneration line. Both are gross costs including employer contributions.

What this factsheet does not know

How good the work is. Figures do not measure creativity, strategy or chemistry.
How the client portfolio is spread. Concentration is not in the accounts.
Freelancers and subcontractors are not in the FTE figures. An agency with 40 staff may in practice run with 70 people.
The figures cover financial year 2026, filed on 13/10/2026. At a fast-moving agency reality today may differ.

Based on publicly filed annual accounts (NBB) and official records (CBE, Belgian Official Gazette). An indication, not financial advice. Sector medians calculated on 2 Nov 2026. Sector medians based on financial year 2025: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.

What the agency actually does 4 services

Media

Search advertising (SEA)

Digital Experience & Tech

Conversion rate optimisation SEO & GEO Website development

Sector focus

Finance & insuranceTechnology & softwareAutomotive & mobilityFood & beverageHealth & pharmaTravel & hospitalityMedia & entertainmentEnergy & utilitiesReal estate & constructionB2B services

Publicly known clients

Miraeus CocktailsGondellamicroStartAkurad AdvocatenWillowPollet Water Group

Based on IKAg research and public sources. Incomplete or outdated? Let us know.

1

People 9 people mapped

This is first a build crew — 4 of 9 are developers. Within that core, CMS, Backend and Full Stack stand out. Notably, no declared strategists in sight — this agency would rather make than philosophise.

NV

Neal van der Valk

Founder

C

Ches

Adsbeheer, begeleiding en audits

H

Henrique

WordPress ontwikkeling

J

Julia

WordPress ontwikkeling

L

Laura

Wireframes, webdesign en kwaliteitscontrole

M

Martin

WordPress ontwikkeling

N

Neal

Websites en tracking

P

Pieter

Adsbeheer, begeleiding en audits

S

Sharon

Projectmanager

Based on public profiles. Something wrong? Let us know.

2

Seniors or juniors?

Payroll cost per FTE is the best public proxy for a team's experience level. Higher is not automatically better, but it says something about who sits at the table.

Payroll cost per FTE

€ 39.593

-38% versus the median

Team composition

1,0 FTE

€ 39.593

Median Digitaal bureau (web & platform) (2025) € 63.343All agencies (2025) € 62.294

Read with care. Directors and partners invoicing through a management company are not in the payroll cost. At small agencies this skews the picture downwards considerably.

3

Will your team stay?

Inflow and outflow from the social report. This series only counts people on the payroll: freelancers who invoice do not appear in it. A low figure therefore means two very different things, a stable permanent team or a small core with heavy outsourcing. A high figure usually points to short contracts. Compare only within the same type of agency.

Exits 2025

100,0%

Median for this type of agency (2025): 27,9%

Inflow 2025

100,0%

1,0 FTE in, 1,0 FTE out

Net team change

0,0 FTE

20222023202420252026

Figures for financial year 2025: in 2026 this agency published no inflow or outflow.

Exits are clearly above what is usual for this type of agency. That may reflect project-based staffing, but it is a reason to ask in the pitch how much of the proposed team was already here two years ago, and to contractually fix your permanent contacts.

Source: annual accounts and social reports (NBB), collected by IKAg. Financial year 2026. Calculations by IKAg; an indication, not financial advice. Sector medians based on financial year 2025: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.