Tag Archives: Information technology

Bure becomes a shareholder in Mentimeter

Bure

Bure Equity AB (publ), (“Bure”) has signed an agreement to acquire Alfvén & Didrikson’s shares in Mentimeter AB (publ) (“Mentimeter”), corresponding to an ownership stake of approximately 12%.

Mentimeter provides a global SaaS platform that enables leaders and organizations to increase engagement, thereby creating more effective and innovative organizations. The platform enables real-time collection of audience opinions and insights on specific issues, visualizes the results as part of the presentation, and supports the analysis of the information after the meeting.

Mentimeter has experienced exceptional organic growth. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) has increased at an average annual growth rate of 58% since 2019, and in 2023 Mentimeter reached an ARR of approximately 500 million SEK. Over 700 million meeting participants have made their voices heard through the product. The company has almost entirely self-financed its growth journey through its strong cash flow profile.

Bure’s CEO Henrik Blomquist comments:

“We are incredibly impressed by Mentimeter and the way the entrepreneurs have continuously developed the company’s offering and business model. Bure looks forward to becoming a long-term owner of Mentimeter and supporting its continued growth journey”.

Mentimeter’s CEO Johnny Warström comments:

“I am very pleased to welcome Bure as a shareholder in Mentimeter. Alfvén & Didrikson has been an active and supportive shareholder for a long time, and I look forward to a good and long-term collaboration with Bure”.

Halmar Didrikson from Alfvén & Didrikson comments:

“It is with great thankfulness and some sadness that we part ways with this wonderful company after seven wonderful years together. We hope that the funds generated through this divestment will enable us at A&D to invest in and support many upcoming Nordic star growth businesses. We would like to thank, from the bottom of our heart, the founders, management, the board, our co-owners and not least all the brilliant employees of Mentimeter. We are convinced that Mentimeter’s journey has just begun and that the company will achieve much more success worldwide in years to come.”

Following the acquisition, Bure will become the third largest owner of Mentimeter, after founders Johnny Warström and Niklas Ingvar. Bure will own approximately 9.5 million shares in the company, and the total transaction value is estimated to be ~450 million SEK. The transaction is conditional on, among other things, entry into the shareholder’s agreement.

For more information, contact

Henrik Blomquist, CEO
henrik.blomquist@bure.se
Telephone: +46 (0) 8-614 00 20

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Bure becomes a shareholder in Mentimeter

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LMtec Digital Solutions completes rebranding to Emixa

Holland Capital

Naarden, June 10th, 2024 – Our portfolio company Emixa, the leading SAP/Siemens/Mendix technology partner, is finalizing the latest phase of its rebranding to one brand. The most recent acquisition LMtec Digital Solutions rebrands to Emixa DACH as of today!

LMtec Digital Solutions is a leading consultancy partner in Germany and Switzerland, specialized in providing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, including management consultancy, maintenance and technical support. The partnership with Siemens Digital Industry Solutions, as well as SAP and Mendix contribute to their vision of playing a significant role in the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, also known as ‘Industry 4.0’. The collaboration within Emixa offers its clients enhanced and more extensive services and its employees opportunities for international development within the wide range of services, technologies, and countries where the group operates.

 

Emixa’s expansion into DACH region

The acquisition of LMtec Digital Solutions in September 2023 has been an important step in Emixa’s international expansion strategy. Including LMtec, Emixa employs over 530 professionals, focusing on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), IT architecture, low-code applications, system integrations and process optimization, primarily targeting the manufacturing industry. The group aspires to become one of the leading players in Western Europe, with a clear focus on the manufacturing industry, and has its operations in the Benelux, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Switzerland.

Peter-Jan Simons, CEO of Emixa, commented: “I am excited about his next phase of moving towards one brand including LMtec as this offers our clients and colleagues the great opportunity to extend our services and deliver projects and support on an international scale.”

Peter Wassmer, Managing Partner of LMtec Digital Solutions, stated: “The Emixa brand is being recognized as a leading specialist capable of delivering solutions based on SAP/Siemens/Mendix technology. Now Emixa can act as a trusted digital partner for our clients in addressing their digital challenges.”

 

About LMtec Digital Solutions

LMtec, founded in 2014, provides digital transformation consultancy, architecture, and implementation of PLM solutions, licenses, and IT services across all industrial sectors. With a team of more than 70 experts in Central Europe, its mission is to enable valued customers to innovate and bring better products and services to the market more quickly. They achieve leading innovation through in-depth industry knowledge, PLM best practices, unique processes, and technological skills. LMtec is a Smart Expert Partner of Siemens Digital Industries Software, SAP and Mendix in the DACH region.

 

About Emixa

Emixa offers its clients innovative, high-quality, full-service solutions in the field of digital transformation, with a special emphasis on the manufacturing industry, also known as ‘Industry 4.0,’ using Siemens (PLM), SAP (ERP), Mendix (Low Code Applications), complemented with Management Consulting, Integration Solutions and Data & Analytics practices.

The group operates in the Benelux, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Switzerland. The foundation for Emixa was established in 2021 with an extended journey in 2022 and 2023 when the companies Appronto, cards PLM Solutions, Dimensys, LMtec, Magnus, and OnePLM joined forces with the support of Holland Capital.

 

About Holland Capital

Holland Capital has been responsibly and successfully investing in promising Dutch and German SMEs with growth ambitions for over 40 years. The team understands entrepreneurship and fosters an open, sustainable, and professional relationship with the management teams of the invested companies, aiming for mutual growth. With offices in Amsterdam and Düsseldorf, Holland Capital focuses on Healthcare, Technology, and the Agrifood-Tech sector. Holland Capital has been involved in Emixa as a shareholder since 2020. She actively supports management in the strategic development of the company.

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KKR To Acquire Majority Ownership In Agiloft

KKR

Existing investor FTV Capital to invest additional capital in the Company

NEW YORK & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that a fund managed by KKR has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Agiloft (“the Company”), a trusted global leader in data-first contract lifecycle management (“CLM”). As part of the transaction FTV Capital, a sector-focused growth equity firm and an existing investor in Agiloft, will make an additional investment in the Company, and JMI Equity, a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies, will join as a new investor in the Company. The investment will help the Company continue to expand as it grows market share, acquires new customers, further innovates product solutions, and extends its world-class standard of customer success.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240530171221/en/

Agiloft is a leading provider of data-first CLM software, enabling legal, procurement, sales and other departments to streamline and leverage their contracting efforts. Agiloft acts as a system of record and provides its customers a global view of all their contracts across all phases, including contract approval, storage, and pre- and post-signature processes and performance. The Company’s flexible platform allows Agiloft to handle significant complexity, serve a wide range of business needs, and integrate with other software systems, resulting in increased efficiencies and improved operational outcomes.

“I am enormously proud and humbled by what we have been able to accomplish at Agiloft. While the business has grown significantly, we have always focused on and maintained our number one differentiator: customer satisfaction and retention, which is predicated on our uniquely agile solution, reliable implementation success, and human-centric approach to contracting,” said Eric Laughlin, CEO of Agiloft. “This new investment from KKR and JMI Equity and continued support from FTV Capital serve as a testament to the caliber of our team’s ability to provide and deliver differentiated world-class products and services to our customers.”

“As businesses increasingly look for efficient ways to ensure regulatory compliance, realize cost efficiencies and manage complex workflows, Agiloft has differentiated itself by providing a simple, one-stop solution to meet its customers’ needs,” said Jimmy Miele, Director, Tech Growth at KKR. “We are deeply impressed by Eric’s leadership and the rest of the Agiloft team, and we look forward to working together to capture additional opportunities in the market.”

“Since FTV’s initial investment in 2020, Agiloft has driven impressive growth by delivering a truly unique no-code platform to a quickly growing customer base globally,” said Alex Mason, Partner at FTV Capital. “The CLM market, while still young, represents a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and we look forward to working with KKR as we continue to support Agiloft in fueling expansion and sustaining its notable leadership in workflow automation.”

As part of the transaction, KKR, JMI Equity and FTV Capital will support Agiloft in implementing a broad-based employee ownership program to allow all of its employees to have the opportunity to participate in the benefits of ownership of the Company. This strategy is based on the belief that employee engagement is a key driver in building stronger companies. Since 2011, KKR portfolio companies have awarded billions of dollars in equity to over 100,000 non-senior management employees across more than 40 portfolio companies.

KKR is making the investment through its Next Generation Technology III Fund. Agiloft adds to KKR’s global portfolio of technology and software investments, which includes OneStream, o9, OutSystems, ReliaQuest (also an FTV Capital portfolio company), RainFocus and Restaurant365.

Moelis & Company LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Agiloft. Baker McKenzie served as legal advisor to Agiloft. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisor to KKR.

About Agiloft
As the most trusted global leader in data-first contract lifecycle management (CLM) software, Agiloft connects contractual commitments to real business outcomes using its flexible Data-first Agreement Platform (DAP). With contract data as the foundation, customers quickly and collaboratively reach agreement and leverage contract visibility to thrive with competitive advantage. Employing powerful, pragmatic artificial intelligence as a legal force multiplier, and robust integration capabilities as a data liberator, organizations around the world trust Agiloft’s certified implementers to deliver connected, intelligent, and autonomous solutions across the entire contract lifecycle. With a 99.6% implementation success rate, it’s clear why some of the largest companies choose Agiloft to unlock the value of contract data and accelerate business. Learn more at www.Agiloft.com.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group’s website at www.globalatlantic.com.

About FTV Capital
FTV Capital is a sector-focused growth equity investment firm that has raised $6.2 billion to invest in high-growth companies offering a range of innovative solutions in enterprise technology and services and financial technology and services. FTV’s experienced team leverages its domain expertise and proven track record in each of these sectors to help motivated management teams accelerate growth. FTV also provides companies with access to its Global Partner Network®, a group of the world’s leading enterprises and executives who have helped FTV portfolio companies for two decades. Founded in 1998, FTV Capital has invested in over 140 portfolio companies, including EBANX, Kore.ai, Lean Solutions Group, LogicSource, Luma, Patra, ReliaQuest and Vagaro, and successfully exited/partially exited companies including Enfusion (NYSE: ENFN), Globant (NYSE: GLOB), InvestCloud (recapitalized), RapidRatings (recapitalized), Strata Fund Solutions (acquired by Alter Domus), Tango Card (acquired by Blackhawk Network) and VPay (acquired by Optum). FTV has offices in New York, San Francisco, Connecticut and London. For more information, please visit www.ftvcapital.com and follow the firm on LinkedIn.

About JMI Equity
JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies. For over three decades, JMI has partnered with exceptional founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams at high-growth software companies to provide flexible capital, industry expertise, and operational support to build businesses of enduring value. To date, JMI has invested in over 180 software businesses in North America and Europe and completed over 115 exits. Today, the Firm’s portfolio of industry-leading cloud software companies represents $8 billion in combined revenue, $65 billion in aggregate enterprise value, and over 34,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.jmi.com.

Media

For Agiloft:
Jeffrey Miesbauer
650-459-5637 ext 4003
news@agiloft.com

For KKR:
Emily Cummings or Liidia Liuksila
212 230-9722
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

 

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Skytap, a Vistara Growth Portfolio Company, Acquired by Kyndryl (NYSE: KD)

Vistara Growth

We’re excited to share the news that Vistara Fund IV portfolio company Skytap has been successfully acquired by Kyndryl (NYSE:KD), the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider ($6B IT infrastructure spinoff from IBM). Vistara’s investment in Skytap was announced in October 2023.

The opportunity with Skytap was sourced through a relationship with the company’s CFO, who previously held the same role at BitTitan, a Vistara Fund III portfolio company which exited to a private equity backed strategic in June 2021. Skytap was seeking incremental growth capital to achieve additional milestones ahead of a potential exit without having to price the company’s equity ahead of a transaction – a common use case for Vistara’s flexible and often less dilutive growth capital.

Skytap’s innovative technologies for managing complex workloads in cloud native environments will now be leveraged by Kyndryl to help more customers accelerate their adoption of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and DevSecOps.

Noah Shipman, Partner at Vistara Growth, commented “We are glad to have played a part in the final mile of Skytap’s journey, providing capital for the company to achieve some important milestones and a strong balance sheet ahead of its sale process.  We thank the Skytap team and its investors for selecting Vistara to finance the last leg of growth and congratulate Kyndryl on its strategic acquisition of a great technology platform and company.”

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Permira to Acquire Majority Position in BioCatch at $1.3bn Valuation

BainCapital

Permira to Acquire Majority Position in BioCatch at $1.3bn Valuation

Permira Growth Opportunities Transaction builds on initial minority investment made in early 2023 to acquire a majority position and support BioCatch’s accelerated growth within online fraud detection and financial crime prevention

New York and Tel Aviv – May 2, 2024 – BioCatch (the “Company”), the global leader in digital fraud detection and financial crime prevention powered by behavioral biometric intelligence, today announced that Permira Growth Opportunities II (the “Fund”), a fund advised by global private equity firm Permira, has agreed to acquire a majority position in the Company. Alongside the Fund’s investment, existing shareholders Sapphire Ventures and Macquarie Capital will also increase their investments in BioCatch. The transaction is expected to accelerate the Company’s global expansion, advance its innovative product roadmap and support its continued overall growth.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Fund will acquire a majority stake in BioCatch, buying out shares primarily from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities and Maverick Ventures, in a secondary transaction valuing the Company at a total enterprise valuation of $1.3bn.

BioCatch was founded in 2011 – at the dawn of a significant consumer shift from branch to online banking – with a mission to fight fraud and keep users safe in online transactions without disrupting user experience. Today, the Company is a leader in behavioral biometric intelligence and advanced fraud detection, leveraging patented artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning technology to analyze a user’s cognitive intent and deliver highly accurate insights as to the legitimacy of their identity, motivations, and behavior. In 2023, the Company expanded its mission to include a proactive approach to fighting financial crime with the launch of predictive, behavior-based mule account detection.

As fraud attacks have become increasingly scaled, sophisticated and complex, BioCatch has experienced significant and sustained momentum. Permira, via its growth equity strategy, completed an initial minority investment in the Company in early 2023, a year that BioCatch ultimately finished with 49% ARR growth, whilst also surpassing the $100 million ARR milestone and attaining EBITDA profitability. Today, BioCatch counts more than 190 financial institutions as customers globally, including over 30 of the world’s largest 100 global banks, who use its solutions to fight fraud, facilitate financial crime prevention and decision intelligence sharing, accelerate digital transformation, and grow the value of customer relationships.

Permira brings a growth mindset to BioCatch’s next chapter, with the ability and network to help the Company expand across Continental Europe, where Permira was first established nearly four decades ago. In addition, Permira is excited to back the Company’s exceptional management team and innovative product roadmap, and is committed to further strengthening BioCatch’s global leadership position both organically and inorganically.

“Permira has backed the theme of cybersecurity for several years, and within this, online fraud detection, customer identity and access management markets have become a clear focus. We have tracked BioCatch with enthusiasm for many years, and now having been a shareholder since early 2023, our conviction in the business, its growth potential, its technology leadership, and its management team continues to grow. We’re excited to become the company’s majority shareholder and look forward to a continued successful partnership with Gadi and the BioCatch team as we seek to further accelerate growth and expansion in the years to come,” said Stefan Dziarski, Partner and Co-Head of Permira Growth Opportunities.

Gadi Mazor, CEO of BioCatch, added: “After building a strong partnership with Permira over the last year, we are delighted to welcome them as majority shareholders. The firm’s impressive experience within technology and cybersecurity, combined with their scale, global network, and our close working relationship, has been invaluable since their initial investment. We’re excited to take BioCatch to the next level together. I’d also like to thank Matthew Kinsella from Maverick Ventures and Dewey Awad from Bain Capital for their support over the last four years, which has been key in helping us establish our leadership position in the market.”

“We have had the privilege of partnering with BioCatch over the past four years and worked closely with Gadi and the BioCatch team to develop a long-term strategy to realize the business’s growth potential,” said Dewey Awad, a Partner at Bain Capital. “Together, we drove several key initiatives aimed at augmenting BioCatch’s go-to-market strategy, team, and operations, all with the goal of protecting end-users and their most sensitive transactions. We believe the company is well-positioned to continue its growth journey under Gadi’s leadership and with Permira’s support.”

“At Permira, we are looking to back product-led businesses operating in structurally growing end markets and that have management teams with the ambition to scale and grow their business. We found all of that in BioCatch and were grateful to have the opportunity to make an initial investment in 2023. After a successful first year, we are delighted to take a majority stake in the business as it continues to grow at scale. With the full extent of Permira’s resources and experience at its disposal, we’re excited for what’s to come at BioCatch,” commented Ran Maidan, Senior Adviser and Head of Permira in Israel.

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About BioCatch

BioCatch stands at the forefront of digital fraud detection, pioneering behavioral biometric intelligence grounded in advanced cognitive science and machine learning. BioCatch analyzes thousands of user interactions to support a digital banking environment where identity, trust, and ease coexist. Today, more than 30 of the world’s largest 100 banks and more than 190 total financial institutions rely on BioCatch Connect™ to combat fraud, facilitate digital transformation, and grow customer relationships.

BioCatch’s Client Innovation Board, an industry-led initiative featuring American Express, Barclays, Citi Ventures, HSBC, and National Australia Bank, collaborates to pioneer creative and innovative ways to leverage customer relationships for fraud prevention. With more than a decade of data analysis, 90 registered patents, and unmatched expertise, BioCatch continues to lead innovation to address future challenges. For more information, visit www.biocatch.com.

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Valtech completes acquisition of Kin + Carta

BC Partners Logo

Valtech, the global leader in Experience Innovation, has today completed its acquisition of the digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta. This strategic investment cements Valtech’s position as the first-choice business transformation partner. It enables the company to better support Fortune 500 and household-name brands looking to meet changing consumer expectations, build strong technology foundations, and drive sustainable growth through world-class experiences.

“Valtech’s vision has always been to become the world’s most influential Experience Innovation company. This acquisition marks a pivotal moment in achieving that,” said Olivier Padiou, CEO of Valtech. “By bringing Kin + Carta’s extensive expertise and client roster into the fold, we enter a new and exciting era. This means helping brands set new standards with intelligent and personalized experiences, powered by data and AI, that touch lives, grow businesses, and change how people experience the world.”

“As two purpose-driven companies, it felt natural for Valtech and Kin + Carta to join forces,” added Kelly Manthey, CEO of Kin + Carta. “With clear cultural alignment, complementary capabilities, and a shared vision for our industry, we are much stronger together. Our clients and technology partners will see the immediate benefits of a better, broader range of services. Our people will benefit from expanded career opportunities.”

The transaction, valued at £239m, is funded by a combination of shareholder equity and external debt and sees Kin + Carta delisted from the London Stock Exchange. Kelly Manthey, Kin + Carta CEO, will become CEO of Valtech Americas and Chris Kutsor, Kin + Carta CFO, will take the role of Valtech Americas CFO, both effective immediately. Kelly and Chris will also join Valtech’s Executive Committee.

To date, Valtech’s growth strategy has focused on strong organic growth paired with acquiring specialist companies with complementary strengths. This has enabled it to deliver unmatched breadth and depth in its Experience Innovation offering. Acquiring Kin + Carta is a key milestone, as the transaction will bring Valtech close to delivering 1B USD in revenue. The acquisition is Valtech’s biggest investment in the Experience Innovation category and cements its leadership position.

Better together

This strategic acquisition will catapult Valtech to the forefront of Experience Innovation as it fuses cutting-edge technology, consultancy, and creative design to redefine what’s possible for businesses across all sectors and disciplines.

By bringing together two recognized leaders in their respective fields, the combined force of Valtech and Kin + Carta will unlock the following for clients and partners:

● Global scale: Kin + Carta’s sizeable footprint in the US and UK, alongside its LATAM and SEE delivery centers, further strengthens Valtech’s presence in critical growth markets and adds 1,900+ consultants, engineers, and data scientists to its 6,000-strong global team.

● Increased vertical reach: Valtech broadens its retail, finance, automotive and public sector portfolio and reaches new clients in agriculture and other verticals.

● End-to-end delivery: Valtech strengthens its digital engineering, commerce, and experience design expertise with Kin + Carta’s cloud, product development, data, and enterprise AI capabilities.

● Expanded offerings: Together, Valtech and Kin + Carta can cross-sell a more robust suite of offerings and jointly pursue larger strategic engagements. Moreover, Kin + Carta adds America’s largest automotive manufacturer, top financial institutions, top retailers and distributors (among others) to Valtech’s portfolio.

Driving value for clients

“This deal represents a strategic acceleration of our vision,” added Padiou. “Experience Innovation calls for a comprehensive strategy that seamlessly integrates and coordinates investments in four critical domains: cloud platforms, data and AI, app modernization, and customer-facing digital channels to create world-class customer experiences that drive sustainable growth.”

“At Valtech, we think about these domains as existing along an ‘innovation continuum’,” said Padiou. “Our focus on this virtuous cycle sets us apart from other organizations. We understand that for business to truly evolve, we cannot just fix individual problems but must modernize and change whole ecosystems.”

Valtech’s approach allows clients to create more seamless, adaptable and personalized customer experiences. By tying all the pieces together and making sure each domain supports the others, Valtech’s work doesn’t just have an immediate business impact but also leads to long-term growth.

Given Kin + Carta’s deep expertise in cloud platforms, data, and AI, Valtech will be able to work more seamlessly across the full innovation continuum, delivering truly transformative business solutions that push the boundaries of what’s possible in the industry. This creates a powerful force multiplier for innovation and growth.

-ENDS-

About Valtech
Valtech is the Experience Innovation company that exists to unlock a better way to experience the world. With a focus on delivering exceptional business results, we empower brands to leap ahead of the competition and go beyond best practices. By blending crafts, categories, and cultures, our team of 6000 professionals in 23 countries help brands unlock value in a digitally accelerated world. It’s at the intersection of insights and perspectives where we leverage the power of data, AI, creativity, and technology to achieve Experience Innovation for many of the world’s best-known brands, including L’Oreal, LVMH, Mars, P&G, Volkswagen, and Dolby. See our work at Valtech.com.

About Kin + Carta Kin + Carta is a global digital transformation consultancy. We support forward-thinking businesses with a focus on growth, inclusivity, and sustainability. We do this by creating Intelligent Experiences, powered by data and built in the cloud. Our 1,900 consultants, engineers, and data scientists bring the power of technology, data, and experience to the world’s most influential companies. Together, we help organizations accelerate their digital roadmaps, rapidly innovate, modernize systems, empower teams, and optimize for continued growth. We’re Kin + Carta and we’re building a world that works better for everyone. For more information, visit www.kinandcarta.com

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Veesual raises a $7.5 million Seed round

AXA

AI-Powered Virtual Try-On Technology Platform For The Fashion Industry Veesual Raises $7.5 Million, Announces US Expansion With New EILEEN FISHER Partnership

Investment for market leader of image generation technology for fashion brands and retailers in Europe will now support US customers looking to overcome inclusivity challenges

New York, NY—April 17, 2024—Veesual, a Paris-based virtual try-on platform for the fashion industry that revolutionizes the way online shoppers experience digital retail, today announced the closing of a $7.5 million dollar Seed round led by AVP (AXA Venture Partners) and Techstars. The investment will accelerate delivery of the company’s plans to expand into the US market by opening its first US-based office, recruiting senior US talent, enhancing its current product offering for US apparel companies and more. A cornerstone of Veesual’s US expansion is a new partnership with leading women’s fashion brand EILEEN FISHER. Under the terms of the collaboration, Veesual’s augmented shopping experiences powered by next-generation virtual try-on technology have been integrated into the EILEEN FISHER online shopping experience.

Founded in 2020, Veesual is on a mission to transform the online shopping experience for all customers, independent of style, fit and fashion preferences. Through its Augmented Shopping solutions Mix&Match, Switch Model and Look Inspiration, Veesual’s proprietary 2D-based Image Generation Engine (IGT) was designed specifically for fashion brands to deliver high-quality imagery at scale, and to be able to adapt several pieces of clothing on any model, with natural renderings and precise fitting. Veesual works with leading brands and retailers in Europe including premium (Claudie Pierlot), kids fashion (Sergent Major and DPAM), and popular fashion (La Redoute and Gemo).

While brands are working to reflect diversity for e-commerce shoppers by featuring models of different ethnicities, ages and body types, it can be extremely costly to shoot individual products on various models. Veesual’s Switch Model experience allows customers to choose a model they identify with while simultaneously accelerating online sales and reducing returns for brands.

“We are thrilled to be the first US brand to partner with Veesual on this innovative new virtual try-on tool,” notes Blair Silverman, Vice President of E-commerce at EILEEN FISHER. “EILEEN FISHER is committed to inclusivity, designing clothes that cater to every body shape. Navigating online shopping poses challenges, particularly in predicting how garments fit diverse body types. Our collaboration with Veesual addresses these challenges head-on and we are proud to be launching a tool that is sure to be a new standard for e-commerce.”

While 3D-based try-on technology can be expensive and time-consuming, 2D image solutions offer a scalable and cost-effective solution for brands that engage shoppers. According to recent data published by Insider Intelligence, by 2026 e-commerce is expected to total over $8.1 trillion and 24% of retail purchases are expected to take place online. Veesual enables brands to create a more seamless and inclusive shopping experience for customers and in turn, yield higher sales and a lower return rate, allowing them to capture a larger percentage of online sales.

“We are proud to invest in Veesual, in order to accelerate its commercial roll-out and pursue its technological developments, as well as its international expansion,” said François Robinet, Managing Partner of AVP. “We believe in Maxime and his team’s vision. They have demonstrated a strong ability to execute and understand market challenges by offering fashion brands solutions to optimize their customer experience. With a presence on both sides of the Atlantic, AVP’s teams will be able to support Veesual in the next stages of its development.”

To support aggressive growth in the US, Veesual is working to recruit more senior talent and will open its first US office in New York in 2025. In addition to e-commerce, Veesual aims to create value for brands by displaying generated images on their acquisition and retargeting channels.

“The global fashion ecosystem is undergoing a seismic shift right now. The industry is increasingly focused on sustainable production, a better, more relevant buying experience and upcycling as a new standard. At Veesual, we’re meeting those changes by drastically improving how shoppers buy online which creates a more inclusive retail experience while also improving fit and reducing waste,” said Veesual Co-Founder and CEO, Maxime Patte. “This fundraise is critical for our plans as we scale in the United States with brands who are pioneering the augmented shopping experience. We anticipate significant growth in 2024 and beyond.”

About AVP

AVP is a global venture capital firm specializing in high-growth, technology-enabled companies, managing more than $2 billion in assets across four investment strategies: Venture, Growth, Late Growth, and Fund of Funds. Since its establishment in 2016, AVP has invested in more than 60 technology companies in Venture and Growth stages in the US and Europe. With offices in New York, London, and Paris, AVP supports companies in expanding internationally and provides portfolio companies with tailored business development opportunities to further accelerate their growth. AVP operates under AXA IM- Alts, the alternative investment business unit of AXA IM.

For more information, visit axavp.com
Contact: Sébastien Loubry, Partner Business development (sebastien@axavp.com)

About Veesual

Founded in 2020, Veesual was developed when co-founders Maxime Patte and Damien Meurisse recognized the limited means of fashion brands to visually engage diverse customers online. The platform offers solutions that leverage the power of images to create inclusive experiences that engage all customers. Globally, brands including Claudie Pierlot, Sergeant Major and La Redoute use Veesual. To date, these partnerships have outperformed expectations, with a 75% average increase in conversation rate and a more than 20% increase in average order value for shoppers who engaged with one of Veesual’s solutions. Veesual, a Techstars portfolio company, was part of Station F’s Founders program and has raised $7.5M to date. For more information, please visit https://www.veesual.ai/.

About EILEEN FISHER, Inc.

EILEEN FISHER has been making a system of simple, timeless clothes for nearly 40 years. A socially conscious company, EILEEN FISHER designs its clothing to be part of a responsible lifecycle, starting with sustainable materials, then taking back its clothes to be resold (Renew) or remade into something entirely new (Waste No More). The company became a B Corp in 2016, which means it voluntarily meets high criteria for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. The company’s clothes are sold online at eileenfisher.com, in more than 50 EILEEN FISHER stores in North America and over 500 department and specialty stores globally. Good-as-new pieces are resold at eileenfisherrenew.com, in two EILEEN FISHER Renew stores, and select EILEEN FISHER retail stores nationwide.

Media Contact

Courtney Page
Rally Point PR courtney.page@rallypoint.pr

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AnaCap signs agreement to acquire majority stake in Yard Reaas, a leading investment services provider and property management platform

Anacap

AnaCap, a market-leading private equity investor specialised in partnering with founders and entrepreneurial management teams, across services, technology and software within the European financial ecosystem, today announces that it has signed an agreement for the acquisition of a majority stake in Yard Reaas, a leading independent platform providing investment, property management and valuation services for institutional investors and banks.

Headquartered in Milan and with offices in Rome, Paris and London, Yard Reaas has more than 30 years of experience, providing end-to-end investment services and property management solutions to a diversified customer base composed of local and international institutional investors and banks. Over the past three years it has monitored investments worth €1.5 billion, performed assets valuations in excess of €30 billion as well as managing a real estate portfolio worth over €13 billion on behalf of first-class institutions.

Yard Reaas is led by CEO Emanuele Bellani, alongside a highly entrepreneurial founding management team formed by Paolo Datti and Paolo Perrella, which will continue to drive growth for the platform under AnaCap ownership in Italy and internationally.

The company is well positioned as a leading platform for investors and financial institutions with a successful inorganic strategy track record of six acquisitions (including the recently announced Tecnit@lia acquisition in January 2024). Yard Reaas is particularly attractive to businesses looking for a prospective partner which can provide high-quality services for both prime and distressed assets across all asset classes, as well as those with an ESG focus.

This transaction will enable the Yard Reaas leadership team to significantly accelerate its international expansion strategy in Southern Europe as it seeks to execute a strong pipeline of acquisitions, in pursuit of becoming a leading consolidation platform in its sector across Italy, Spain and France respectively.

AnaCap’s extensive track record in technology investment will help accelerate Yard Reaas ambitious plan to become the leading tech-enabled service provider for its market. This will include the advanced use of technology, data, and analytics to offer a vast range of innovative solutions to clients such as Automated Valuation Models (“AVM”) and automated ESG ratings that align with the recent European ‘Green Homes’ directive, as well as optimising its internal processes.

Buyside advice was provided by Vitale & Co and Allen & Overy. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Alberto Sainaghi, Managing Director at AnaCap, commented:

“We are thrilled to partner with Emanuele and the Yard Reaas leadership team as we seek to build upon their impressive achievements in recent years and their excellent market reputation. Moving forward, AnaCap’s vision is for Yard Reaas to become the leading tech-enabled provider in Southern Europe for the sector, serving customers across multiple geographies and asset classes.”

Nassim Cherchali, Co-Managing Partner at AnaCap, added:

“AnaCap continue to find attractive opportunities in core European markets through a deep understanding of local markets, sector specialism and lower mid-market focus. AnaCap’s acquisition of Yard Reaas is another example of how we partner with founders and ambitious management teams to support and accelerate their growth ambitions. We look forward to working closely with all the team at Yard Reaas and are excited for them to join the AnaCap platform.”

Emanuele Bellani, CEO at Yard Reaas, concluded:

“It became clear to us very quickly that AnaCap would be a perfect partner as we target significant growth in scale and offering of services. Their vast experience in executing build-up strategies, their deep understanding of tech-enabled business growth and their DNA in supporting highly entrepreneurial management teams will help us immeasurably in achieving our ambitious goal: consolidating our leadership in Italy, as well as expanding our geographical presence in other countries via strategic acquisitions using technology as the key differentiating aspect in the market.”

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Boyum IT Solutions acquires NETRONIC and enriches its cloud manufacturing offering.

Volpi Capital

Aarhus, Denmark April 4th, 2024

Boyum IT Solutions (“Boyum”) is a global supply chain software vendor based in Denmark, with more than 12,000 customers in more than 100 countries. Netronic, based in Germany, is a software vendor with complementary functionality in production scheduling for SME manufacturers, globally. Similar to Boyum, Netronic offers its solutions to both Microsoft Dynamics and SAP customers, distributing their add-ons via hundreds of partners across the world.

With this acquisition, Boyum expands its cloud manufacturing offering to enable an end-to-end product value chain, creating a more holistic portfolio of ERP add-ons for its customers and partners across the SAP and Microsoft ecosystems.

The product and organizational synergies match the overall objective of helping more manufacturers produce and launch better products, with Boyum and NETRONIC both being flexible and passionate about rapidly adapting to the needs of their customers and partners.

Mikael Boyum, founder and CEO of Boyum IT, is excited about the opportunities that Netronic manufacturing will allow the company to pursue: “I’m very happy about the doors that this powerful scheduling tool opens for manufacturing SMEs in general, as well as for our current customers and partners. This will significantly enhance what our Cloud Apps and Beas currently offer and is another move in the right direction towards our goal of being the long-term product value chain partner – from the innovation stage, in which a product is idealized and designed, to its launch.”

Elmar Karlowitsch, COO, and Martin Karlowitsch, CEO of NETRONIC, are enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead: “We successfully established NETRONIC as a brand for powerful scheduling for small and mid-sized manufacturers. By joining forces with the Boyum team, we now can offer a full suite of manufacturing apps to our Dynamics 365 Business Central customers. So far in our business careers, we never saw a better fitting example of the ‘1 + 1 = 3’ formula.”

Boyum is owned by Volpi Capital – a B2B tech specialist investing across Northern Europe. Volpi Capital is experienced in international expansion and buy-and-build, driving sustainable and profitable growth.

Marc Andreoli and Fernando Piekenbrock,investors at Volpi Capital, are looking forward to continued growth for the combined group going forward: “After successfully integrating Perfion last year, we anticipate further revenue synergies from the merger between Boyum and NETRONIC. The acquisition will strengthen our positioning as a global ERP-agnostic provider of product value chain solutions and deepen our penetration of the highly growing Microsoft Dynamics market.”

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SheerID Launches Income Verification Solution Enabling Telcos to Serve Families No Longer Covered by Affordable Connectivity Program

Brighton Park Capital

Solution makes it easy for Telcos to digitally verify over 42 million individuals who qualify for government assistance programs for reduced price plans and promotions

PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SheerID, the global leader in identity verification for commerce, today announced the availability of its instant verification solution for low-income households for telecom carriers. Already in use by brands such as Walmart – in support of the company’s Walmart+ Assist program – SheerID’s verification solution provides an easy way for companies to verify households who qualify for government assistance programs. With the federal government ending funding of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) this month, SheerID’s verification solution provides a means for carriers to continue reduced rate pricing and promotions to families who need extra financial support. In addition, it allows Telcos to pursue continued federal funding through programs such as the broadband equity and deployment (BEAD) program.

“We are honored to help telcos that need new alternatives to the ACP to continue to provide their much needed products and services to families in need throughout the United States.”

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Since the creation of ACP, carriers could count on the government to verify which of their customers are on government assistance and thus eligible for special discounts on their products and services. Now that ACP is being discontinued, telcos can no longer seamlessly verify and serve millions of customers who qualify for reduced rate programs. The end of ACP also represents the loss of government subsidies for rural broadband deployment. Providing low-cost plans to verified low-income customers is an efficient and effective way to ensure digital equity.

How SheerID verifies customers who qualify for government assistance

SheerID uses authoritative data sources to verify if someone meets the income eligibility guidelines for SNAP. In addition, SheerID can verify if someone is enrolled in a government assistance program like WIC, Medicaid, SSI, TANF, TTANF, NSLP and LIHEAP through document review. Once SheerID verifies the individual through its seamless white-label verification experience on the Telco’s website, the carrier can offer needed reduced-rate plans and other promotions such as discounts on refurbished phones to customers.

Supporting additional communities with exclusive promotions

Given the vital importance of Internet-access in today’s world, providing an exclusive offer to households that qualify for government assistance helps generate goodwill and supports the mission of a company’s brand. This phenomenon is also true when a brand provides personalized discounts to other communities, such as teachers, students, and healthcare workers. From surveys conducted by SheerID, more than 60% of all consumer communities said a personalized offer would make them promote that brand to friends and family. T-Mobile has generated goodwill by offering special promotions to military and first responders, while AT&T offers promotions to a number of communities including military, first responders, teachers, and healthcare workers. SheerID’s verification solution protects all of these offers by verifying that consumers who try to redeem these offers are indeed part of the community.

“This is an important initiative to help people around the country – regardless of their economic situation, gain access to the Internet and achieve digital equity,” stated Jake Weatherly, CEO of SheerID. “We are honored to help telcos that need new alternatives to the ACP to continue to provide their much needed products and services to families in need throughout the United States.”

More information about SheerID’s Telco solutions can be found here.

About SheerID

SheerID is the global leader in identity verification for commerce. With SheerID, brands identify and acquire customers from highly valued consumer communities — such as the military, students, teachers, and first responders — with personalized offers through loyalty programs, digital wallets, and more, that are gated by instant verification from the largest set of authoritative data worldwide. SheerID verifies more than 2.5 billion people via 200,000 authoritative data sources to increase sales while mitigating fraud, provides global insights from hundreds of the world’s leading brands, and never shares or sells customer data. As a result, the world’s biggest brands — including Amazon, Home Depot, Spotify, and T-Mobile — rely on SheerID as their identity verification partner. Founded in 2011, SheerID is backed by Fortson VC, Brighton Park Capital, Centana Growth Partners, Voyager Capital, and CVC Growth Partners.

SheerID is ISO Certified and is a member of the MACH Alliance, the group of independent technology companies dedicated to advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems. In 2023, SheerID ranked among the highest-scoring businesses on Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of Best Workplaces. For more information, please visit SheerID or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.

Contacts

Michael Lindenberger
LindyPR
michael@lindypr.net
+1.415.531.1449

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