Tag Archives: Marketing

Audax Private Equity Announces Strategic Investment in Integrate

Audax Group

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced it has completed a strategic growth investment in Integrate.com, Inc. (“Integrate” or the “Company”), a leader in B2B Precision Demand Marketing, an emerging category that helps B2B marketers develop omnichannel demand strategies and drive marketing ROI. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Integrate connects data, channels, technology, and team members to create intelligent buyer and account journeys and deliver Precision Demand Marketing at scale. Its core offering, the Demand Acceleration Platform (“DAP”), centralizes, connects, and elevates multichannel B2B buying experiences to help accelerate demand and convert leads to revenue. In 2021, Integrate’s B2B marketing customers processed over 14.5 million marketable and compliant leads through their governance engine.

“We look forward to partnering with Audax and continuing our momentum following this exceptional year of growth,” said Jeremy Bloom, co-founder and CEO of Integrate. “We believe Audax’ expertise and track record of building value will position us well to capitalize on the sizeable and growing core market opportunity, as well as adjacent verticals and geographic expansion opportunities. We are thrilled to have Audax’ support as we continue to develop our product set and grow our customer base.”

“Integrate’s differentiated SaaS-based workflow product provides unique value by replacing the expensive need for an in-house or agency-based, labor-intensive solution,” said Tim Mack, Managing Director at Audax. “With companies allocating more of their marketing budgets to digital channels, Integrate offers demonstrable ROI for their customers, making them an essential partner to their customer base. We’re excited to work with Jeremy and the rest of the Integrate team to help support the Company’s further growth and value creation.”

“Integrate’s solution helps B2B marketers solve complex challenges across a variety of demand generation channels. By helping to power account-based, buyer-driven omnichannel marketing strategies, the platform has proven itself to be an invaluable resource for some of the world’s largest marketers,” said Iveshu Bhatia, Managing Director at Audax. “We’re excited to partner with Jeremy and the Integrate team in their next phase of growth.”

Ropes & Gray served as legal counsel to Audax and Goodwin Proctor served as legal counsel to Integrate. Integrate was advised by BrightTower, a New York based investment banking firm focused on software, information, and technology enabled services.

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3TS Capital Partners Exits SALESmanago to SilverTree Equity and Perwyn

3TS Capital Partners

Vienna, Warsaw, London, 2 December, 2021

3TS Capital Partners, a leading European growth capital investor, announced today that its portfolio company, SALESmanago has been successfully acquired by a private equity consortium composed of SilverTree Equity and Perwyn. SALESmanago is a leading SaaS no-code CDP & Marketing Automation platform. 3TS realized an exceptional return on the investment, as the Company grew revenues over 400% in the 5.5 years as part of the portfolio. This is 3TS’ third exit of 2021.

“We are delighted to have been part of SALESmanago’s journey and to be able to bring strategic guidance at critical inflection points, as the Company scaled revenues over 50% per year.”, said Zbigniew Lapinski, Partner at 3TS Capital Partners. “Greg and the entire team have done an incredible job growing SALEmanago from a local leader to a breakthrough technology and a global challenger in the marketing automation platform segment.”

“3TS worked closely with us and supported SALESmanago with operational insights through tremendous growth, as well as during the challenging moments of great change as our Company evolved.” added Greg Blazewicz, SALESmanago’s Founder and CEO.

SilverTree Equity and Perwyn acquired SALESmanago in a nine-digit transaction, which included a growth investment that the Company will use for further expansion. SilverTree Equity is a leading UK-based private equity firm with deep expertise in technology and software businesses. Perwyn is a UK-based family-backed private equity investor.

About SALESmanago

Headquartered in Krakow and founded in 2012, SALESmanago is a leading SaaS marketing automation and Customer Data Platform company. Its solution harnesses the full power of first- and zero-party data, combining advanced analytics and AI automation to deliver highly configurable personalized experiences, across a comprehensive range of natively built and integrated marketing execution channels. SALESmanago’s customers are a mix of large blue chip and mid-size organizations located across Europe, the Americas and Asia and spanning all industry verticals. Customers include Starbucks, Burger King, Pizza Hut, BMW, Toyota, Harley Davidson, Victoria’s Secret, Crocs and T-Mobile.

For more information, please visit www.salesmanago.com

About 3TS Capital Partners

3TS Capital Partners is a technology focused growth capital firm investing across Central Europe. 3TS provides expansion capital for businesses in growth sectors including Technology & Internet, Media & Communications and Technology-Enabled Services. The combination of strong financial backing, strategic value-add and extensive networks form the foundation of the 3TS company-building strategy. Investors in the current and past 3TS funds totaling over €400 million include EIF, Erste Group, Tesi, Cisco, OTP, EBRD, AWS, Sitra, KfW, and 3i among others.

For more information, please visit www.3tscapital.com

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CVC Fund VIII and HPS Investment Partners to acquire stakes in Authentic Brands Group

CVC Capital Partners

World-leading private equity and investment firms, alongside ABG’s existing equity partners, to support the company in its next phase of global growth

Authentic Brands Group (“ABG”), a global brand development, marketing and entertainment company, today announces that funds advised by CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) and HPS Investment Partners (“HPS”) have signed definitive agreements to purchase significant equity stakes in the company from certain current ABG shareholders. The transaction values the company at $12.7 billion in enterprise value.

“We have known CVC and HPS for many years and are thrilled that they are coming on board as significant stakeholders in ABG. Their commitment is a testament to the exceptional work our team has put forth as well as CVC and HPS’s confidence in our future growth,” said Jamie Salter, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ABG. “The entire ABG team – from our leadership to the director of first impressions – has done an incredible job of building a sustainable and scalable business with a laser focus on brand development, digital innovation, e-commerce, specialty retail, expansion into new verticals and proven business models.”

Since its founding in 2010, ABG has experienced significant growth by implementing a proven playbook that connects strong brands with best-in-class licensees and a network of partners to optimize value in the marketplace. ABG’s portfolio has grown to more than 30 brands that are diversified across the fashion, luxury, outdoor, home, entertainment, events, media and fine arts sectors. The acquisition of Reebok, which closes in Q1 of 2022, will bring ABG’s portfolio to more than $20 billion in annual system-wide retail sales with global distribution in more than 150 countries and highlights ABG’s ability to successfully integrate world-class brands into its unique platform.

“The investments from CVC Capital and HPS Investment Partners are a strong vote of confidence in ABG’s long-term vision and strategic approach,” said Nick Woodhouse, President and CMO of ABG. “We are primed to continue furthering our global presence, acquiring new entertainment and lifestyle brands and driving organic growth for our portfolio.”

“We have followed ABG’s success story for several years and are delighted to be partnering with the company and its investor group,” said Chris Stadler, a Managing Partner at CVC. “The power of the ABG platform is evident in its growth to date, and we believe the company is only beginning to realize the full benefit of its scale and diversification. We look forward to working with Jamie, Nick and the talented team at ABG to create even greater value together.”

“ABG has shown that its unique business model can successfully innovate and grow brands across a broad spectrum of consumer categories, and we are excited to leverage CVC’s experience in the consumer, retail and media and entertainment sectors to support the company’s growth ambitions,” said Chris Baldwin, a Managing Partner at CVC. “We plan to work closely with the ABG team to execute on their strategic priorities, particularly around international expansion, given our extensive global footprint and experience in local markets around the world.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Jamie and his outstanding team, who we have known for nearly a decade, to support ABG’s ongoing development and growth strategy as it continues to lead the market in the brand licensing arena, underpinned by a highly differentiated and innovative acquisition and brand management platform,” said Scot French, a Governing Partner of HPS.

BlackRock Long Term Private Capital will retain its position as ABG’s largest shareholder, which it has held since 2019. Simon, General Atlantic, Leonard Green & Partners, GIC, Brookfield, Lion Capital, Jasper Ridge Partners and Shaquille O’Neal will continue to hold significant equity positions in the company.

In connection with the transaction, BofA Securities, Inc. was the M&A advisor for ABG. BofA Securities, Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC also acted as financial advisors for ABG. Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal counsel for ABG.

Upon closing of the transaction, which is expected in December 2021, CVC and HPS will join ABG’s Board of Directors.

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Ardian provides Berlin Brands Group with additional growth capital

Ardian

Berlin / Frankfurt am Main, September 1, 2021 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house, announces today that it is providing additional growth capital to Berlin Brands Group (“BBG”), a global e-commerce company based in Berlin, through its fifth generation of Expansion Funds. Over the course of the transaction, Ardian will once again become a minority shareholder in BBG and support the company during its next growth phase alongside majority shareholder and CEO Peter Chaljawski, as well as BBG’s new and second largest shareholder, Bain Capital.

Berlin Brands Group is a pioneer in direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand marketing. The multi-brand company sells a range of over 3,700 products under 34 own brands and via 100 online channels across 28 countries. The brands encompass the household appliances, consumer electronics, gardening and fitness equipment segments, including Klarstein (klarstein.de), auna (auna.de), blumfeldt (blumfeldt.de) and Capital Sports (capitalsports.de).

As a key part of its next growth phase, BBG launched a comprehensive M&A roll-up strategy in 2020 focusing on acquiring, integrating and scaling e-commerce brands across its platform. Ardian supported the group’s management in implementing this strategy and now plans to further contribute to establishing BBG as the leading global D2C consolidator.
Ardian was already invested in BBG via its third generation of Expansion Funds from July 2015 to September 2021.

“We have benefitted greatly from Ardian’s expertise as a reliable investment partner in recent years. We are therefore thrilled that Ardian will also accompany us during our next growth phase.” PETER CHALJAWSKI, Founder and CEO of BBG

“BBG continues to show significant growth potential and we fully support the company’s strategy, as well its excellent management team led by Peter Chaljawski. We look forward to continue our successful partnership.” MARC ABADIR, Managing Director in Ardian’s German Expansion Team

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$120bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 800 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,200 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com

ABOUT BERLIN BRANDS GROUP

Berlin Brands Group (BBG) is a global e-commerce company and one of the pioneers in the direct-to-consumer business. The Berlin-based hidden champion currently sells over 3,700 every day and trendy products across 34 of its own e-commerce brands. The goal: to become one of the world’s leading
e-commerce companies with a ‘global house of digital brands’.

www.berlin-brands-group.com

Press contact

ARDIAN – CHARLES BARKER CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Peter Steiner

ardian@charlesbarker.de Tel: +49 69 79409027

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Nauta exits from TAPTAP Digital, a leading advertising technology and marketing intelligence software platform in Spain and Latin America

  • bd-capital’s operational expertise and international capabilities will support the TAPTAP team as they continue to disrupt the digital advertising market by accelerating growth among agencies and advertisers through new solutions and technology, while continuing growth in international markets.
  • As part of the new partnership, Nauta Capital will exit from TAPTAP Digital.

MADRID, LONDON – 11 November 2021 – bd-capital, the pan-European, operationally-led private equity firm, has made its latest investment into TAPTAP Digital, a leading advertising technology and marketing intelligence software platform in Spain and Latin America. This is bd-capital’s first investment in Spain.

TAPTAP was founded in 2010 by Alvaro del Castillo. The business has developed its own software platform called Sonata that helps deliver relevant advertising content to consumers while protecting their privacy. It aggregates and cross references multiple sources of location data, which helps advertisers to increase brand awareness, build purchase interest and boost consideration.

A key changing pattern of consumer behaviour is the desire of people to receive relevant advertising while maintaining privacy; TAPTAP technology delivers this solution. The TAPTAP proprietary technology is also very well-placed for upcoming structural trends in data protection and privacy regulations. This is because the software connects multiple data ecosystems and performs complex analytics without needing to rely on unique user identifiers.

The management team of TAPTAP is led by Founder & CEO Alvaro del Castillo, who will remain invested in the company. Commenting on the transaction, Alvaro said: “We are excited to be partnering with the bd-capital team. The alignment since we first met in February 2020 is very strong. Through its differentiated partnership approach, I am sure that bd-capital can help us consolidate our presence in Spain and Latin America and expand our solutions to new markets”

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Partner and Head of Southern Europe at bd-capital, commented, “We cannot think of a better company in which to make our first investment in Spain. TAPTAP has shown an impressive growth trajectory and is today uniquely positioned in the advertising and marketing technology space”.

Francesc Casabella, Operating Partner at bd-capital and the new Chairman of TAPTAP’s Board, added: “TAPTAP is run by an exceptional and very talented group of people. We look forward to partnering with Alvaro and his team to support the next phase of growth”.

This latest investment into TAPTAP follows bd-capital’s recent investments into SportPursuit, a leading online private sales club in UK and Germany focused on sports, outdoor and active lifestyle products, Symprove, the gut health products business, and Ascenti, the UK’s leading provider of physical and mental wellbeing services. All four investments follow a consistent strategy of investing in companies where changing patterns of consumer behaviour and technology disruption are creating growth opportunities.

bd-capital was created by Richard Baker, former FTSE CEO and Chairman, and Andy Dawson, former Advent International Investment Partner, and takes an operationally-led approach to its partnerships with businesses. Since launching in 2019, the bd-capital team has grown to 18 people, 6 of whom are former CEOs with experience of growing mid-size businesses in the European market.

TAPTAP and its shareholders were advised by Gómez-Acebo & Pombo and Osborne Clarke (legal). bd-capital executed the transaction in close partnership with advisory teams from Uría Menéndez (legal), Deloitte (financial and tax), Accenture (commercial, technology and data security), Marsh (insurance and W&I advisory) and a number of industry experts.

About bd-capital:

bd-capital is a European firm designed to implement the next evolution of operationally-led investing: business leaders and private equity investors working in full partnership with company stakeholders. The firm targets control or co-control investments in European mid-market businesses with strong growth potential. The firm’s strategy is to invest in businesses where changing patterns in behaviour and technology disruption are creating growth opportunities.

For more information about bd-capital, visit the firm’s website at www.bd-cap.com

 About TAPTAP Digital:

TAPTAP is a leading provider of omnichannel advertising solutions and location-based marketing intelligence to media agencies and large advertisers. It operates on the top part of the purchase funnel, helping brands to increase awareness, build purchase interest and boost consideration. Its proprietary technology (Sonata) aggregates and cross references multiple sources of location data, connecting online and offline environments and creating 360º audiences for omnichannel campaign activations and measurement. It has become the Demand-Side Platform (DSP) of reference in Spain and Latin America for leading media agencies and large advertisers.

For more information about TAPTAP Digital, please visit www.taptapdigital.com

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Batch – Our investment in leading push notification (web and mobile) provider

Created by Simon Dawlat and Antoine Guénard in 2015, Batch is recognized on the market and is growing rapidly and steadily thanks to its new generation CRM platform allowing brands to make their customer journeys mobile centric. It has 70 employees spread between Paris and Lyon and over 500 customers, including most media outlets, many key accounts, service companies, and startups as well as 30% of its customers being international – from the UK and Germany.

This €20-million funding round, announced today, will enable Batch to develop three key projects: the creation of 170 new positions and strengthening its unique corporate culture, optimizing and building-up its technological platform and opening new offices in Marseille, London and Berlin.

A key investment in Orange Venture’s strategy
The mobile-first CRM platform offers a holistic vision of the customer and their journey, meaning omnichannel strategies can be implemented. This participation is perfectly in line with Orange Ventures’ investment strategy, which is based on the desire to support future global tech champions that aim to assist the responsible digital transformation of companies and society. The partnership between Orange Ventures and Batch will provide agile and structured access to Orange ecosystems and commercial business units.

An ambitious development in the coming years
Using this funding, Batch’s first priority is to strengthen its corporate culture by investing in projects devoted to its employees, such as management and financial performance transparency, decision-making processes, work from home as well as gender equality and parenthood. The start-up aims to have 150 employees by end 2022, and 250 employees by 2023. This funding will also be used to continue to strengthen and optimize the technological platform while boosting its development and international growth.
“We are delighted with the support from Orange Ventures during this fundraising because we share the same ambitions. But above all, we share strong common values. Beyond the development of our platform and our international growth, this fundraising will allow us to focus on our corporate culture, because people are at the center of our priorities and represent the base of our development,” says Simon Dawlat, co-founder of Batch.
“Batch has managed to position itself as the leader on its domestic market and to develop a corporate culture focused on its employees’ development. In line with its ambition to help develop a new win-win ecosystem between very agile startups and a major group like Orange, Orange Ventures is happy to support Batch to accelerate its international development and continue its efforts to develop a technology that perfectly addresses the companies’ digitalization challenges,” explains Jérôme Berger, President and Managing Partner of Orange Ventures.

About Batch
Batch has developed a multi-channel customer engagement platform designed for the new generation of marketing divisions and focused on the needs of key accounts and scale-ups. Self-financed for over 6 years, with close to 100 employees, Batch raised its first €20 million in 2021 to strengthen its culture, develop its platform and boost its international deployment. The company is based in Paris and Lyon, with offices in several European cities.
For more information: www.batch.com/

Press Release from Batch
Press Release from Orange Ventures (ENG)
Press release from Orange Ventures (FR)

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Simpli.fi, a Leading Programmatic Advertising Platform, Announces Completion of Significant Investment from Blackstone at $1.5 Billion Valuation

Blackstone

Fort Worth, TX, New York, NY, and Chicago, IL, October 1, 2021 – Simpli.fi, a leader in programmatic advertising and agency management software, announced today that private equity funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE:BX) (“Blackstone”) have completed the previously announced significant equity investment in the company. Blackstone joins existing investor GTCR, a leading private equity firm, as majority shareholders in the company. The investment, made through Blackstone’s flagship private equity vehicle, values the company at approximately $1.5 billion.

Simpli.fi’s full suite of mission critical workflow and ad buying software enables agencies and media groups to manage their core operations more efficiently, and to execute high ROI omni-channel ad campaigns. Each month, the company’s innovative programmatic advertising platform powers over 120,000 CTV, mobile, and other digital campaigns for 30,000 active advertisers.

“We are thrilled to embark upon this next chapter for Simpli.fi as we welcome Blackstone as a new partner,” said Frost Prioleau, Co-Founder and CEO of Simpli.fi. “Working alongside Blackstone and GTCR, we look forward to driving further product innovation and expansion of our platform, both organically and through our targeted acquisition strategy, in order to better serve the needs of advertising agencies and media buying organizations.”

“As local media spend increasingly moves from linear to digital channels, we are excited to partner with management and GTCR to build upon Simpli.fi’s market leadership in this space,” said Sachin Bavishi, a Managing Director at Blackstone.  “We look forward to investing behind Simpli.fi’s rapid growth trajectory as it continues to innovate and serve customers through superior technology and customer service.”

Craig Bondy, a Managing Director at GTCR, and Stephen Master, a Principal at GTCR, added: “Blackstone shares our vision and strong belief in Simpli.fi’s growth potential and, importantly, brings complementary expertise and valuable resources to bear. We look forward to working together to support the company’s continued expansion.”

Evercore, LUMA Partners, and Canaccord Genuity served as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Simpli.fi and GTCR. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to Blackstone.

About Simpli.fi
Simpli.fi is a leading provider of workflow software and programmatic advertising solutions, serving over 1,400 agencies, advertisers, and media buying organizations. Our solutions enable our customers to perform more effectively and efficiently, and to maximize ROI on their advertising spend across CTV, mobile, display, and other media types. Our platform delivers performance on budgets of all sizes, executing over 120,000 campaigns for 30,000 advertisers in a typical month. For more information please visit our website at www.simpli.fi

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $684 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

About GTCR
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Growth Business Services, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Healthcare and Financial Services & Technology industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy™ – finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $20 billion in over 250 companies. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com.

Contact

Katie McGovern
SHIFT Communications
simpli.fi@shiftcomm.com
609.206.1082

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UPshow closes $10 million credit facility led by Espresso Capital

espresso capital

Chicago — September 30, 2021 — Espresso Capital has provided UPshow, the leading in-venue entertainment and marketing platform that develops interactive digital TV networks with a $10 million venture debt facility. The company will use the funds to make strategic investments in its product development and go-to-market engine.

“There’s never been a better time to help brick and mortar businesses embrace on-premise digital transformation,” says UPshow CEO Adam Hirsen. “We’re seeing increasing demand for our solutions and this capital will help us further accelerate our growth into new markets as we build our brand.”

UPshow is the first and only marketing and engagement platform for out of home venues that delivers hyper-targeted marketing and interactive entertainment alongside a robust suite of analytics tools. The company has created a revolutionary in-venue network that drives customer and employee behaviors and engagement directly from their mobile devices using hyper-relevant and immersive content.

“Adam and his team have developed the leading technology in this space and are changing the way that restaurant, fitness, and health and wellness venues can engage with customers, patients, and employees,” said Espresso Capital Director Mark Gilbert. “UPshow is disrupting a very large market and we believe it is on course to enjoy very strong growth as it expands into new markets and replaces traditional systems.”

Prior to the pandemic, the Chicago-based business began creating private digital TV networks to engage employees. In the wake of the pandemic, retail businesses have seen unprecedented workforce challenges, high turnover, and difficulties with training and engagement. As a result, UPshow’s Back-of-House Employee Engagement product has seen growing interest from big QSR hospitality brands that employ large, distributed, and deskless workforces. UPshow is currently progressing pilot programs in this area with Burger King, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin Donuts.

“We’re delighted to see the progress that UPshow is making as it expands its service offerings to include employee engagement,” said Dan Malven, Managing Director at 4490 Ventures, who led UPShow’s Series A round. “Partnering with an innovative and trusted capital provider like Espresso to help accelerate that progress made total sense.”

“It’s been great working with Espresso,” said Hirsen. “We’ve had a close relationship with them for years and appreciate that they’re strategic partners who truly understand our business and the market opportunity we’re going after. Not only that, the non-dilutive venture debt facility from Espresso will improve our strategic flexibility and help us maximize enterprise value.

About UPshow

UPshow is the leading in-venue entertainment and marketing platform for retail and hospitality businesses that develops interactive digital TV networks. As the first and only provider of interactive digital signage networks, UPshow creates a revolutionary in-venue network that drives customer and employee behaviors directly from their mobile devices. Enterprise businesses in the hospitality, entertainment, fitness and healthcare industries rely on UPshow’s plug-and-play technology to create deeper brand engagement and maximize profitability and efficiency. Founded in 2015, UPshow now reaches audiences through more than 25,000 screens in businesses around the world. Learn more at upshow.tv.

About 4490 Ventures

4490 Ventures invests in Connected Software companies. We are a team of investors, founders and operators with more than 100 years of combined experience who bring capital and a network of resources to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of tech companies. We are high conviction, high concentration early-stage investors focused on companies outside of Silicon Valley. For more information, visit 4490Ventures.com, or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Espresso Capital

Espresso empowers companies with innovative venture debt solutions. Since 2009, we’ve helped more than 300 technology companies and their investors accelerate growth, extend runway, and increase strategic flexibility with non-dilutive capital. Learn more at www.espressocapital.com.

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True exits data-driven marketing tool Spirable

True

Global sports tech and data company Genius Sports has acquired data-driven marketing tool Spirable.

Spirable is a platform that enables businesses to create, automate, distribute and optimise data-driven video marketing, at scale, and was a trailblazer in facilitating the automated personalisation of video marketing when it was founded in 2015 by brothers Dave and Ger O’Meara.

As the company’s first investor, True has supported Spirable from its early days, providing office space at True’s Innovation Hub in London, as well as support and notably, introductions to leading global retailers, consumer brands and executives from across the True Live Network.

Matt Truman CEO and Co-founder of True said: “We invest in people! Dave and Ger represented everything we look for in people at such an early stage. I am delighted that as their first investors True has been able to play a small part in their huge success over the last five years, through the relevant introductions we’ve made from our unique network and more. We look forward to seeing the business grow from here. For True, this is another significant exit for our growth fund and a strong demonstration of True’s ability to be more helpful to entrepreneurs and management teams.”

Co-founder and CEO of Spirable Ger O’Meara says: “The team at True were early believers in our vision and became our very first investors. They have supported us with funding, sound advice and introductions to major retail brands right along the journey, including DIAGEO and Boots, as well as to growing businesses such as Ribble from their Portfolio. Dave and myself are very grateful for the big role that True has played in Spirable’s journey to date.”

Genius Sports are the official data, technology and media partner to hundreds of organisations globally, and will enhance the Spirable offering through access to official sports data and HTML5 programmatic technology.

Spirable will continue to operate under the Spirable brand, with the same team, innovative product and brilliant service, but with the additional benefit of a world-class data and technology company.  Read more about the acquisition here.

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Mecenat to partner with IK Investment Partners

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that funds advised by IK will be investing in Mecenat Holding AB (“Mecenat” or “the Company”). Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Mecenat is a leading marketing technology company which promotes unique discounts to its community of students and young professionals. The Company is headquartered in Gothenburg and operates across Sweden with over 4,500 vendors offering discounts and deals to more than 1.2 million students and recent graduates.

The Company was founded in 1998 by its CEO Jonas Levin and has pioneered the Swedish student discount market. The platform provides special offers across a range of products and services, including electronics, clothing, books, entertainment, sport, food and health. Notable brands include Apple, Adobe, Adidas and ASOS, in addition to service and transport providers such as state-owned train operator SJ.

Since 2018, Mecenat has extended its membership to include university alumni, expanding the platform’s reach and growth potential even further. Funds advised by IK will be investing in the business alongside Jonas Levin, who will remain as CEO. With the support of IK, Mecenat plans to build on its success and further develop its technology platform in order to ensure a continued relevant and trusted offering towards students as well as young professionals.

Jonas Levin, Founder and CEO of Mecenat, commented: “We are excited to be partnering with IK as we enter the next stage of our journey. Our success to date has been driven by remaining relevant for tomorrow’s trendsetters and students by developing our technology to connect them with the most appealing products and services from today’s leading brands. With IK’s support, we aim to further develop our business by expanding into complementary affinity groups and ensuring we remain the top-of-mind marketing channel for reaching students and young professionals.

Carl Jakobsson, Director at IK Investment Partners and Advisor to IK funds, said: “Mecenat is synonymous with trusted and unique student discounts in Sweden and has demonstrated an impressive ability to adapt to the changing dynamics of this demographic over the last two decades. We are highly excited about partnering with Jonas and his team on continuing the journey of building the Nordics’ leading marketing channel within and beyond the current affinity group focus.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
Phone: +44 (0) 7584 142 665
Email: jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk

IK Investment Partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in 150 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

Mecenat

Mecenat is a leading Swedish marketing technology company specialising in the delivery of world-class student discount schemes through proprietary technology. Mecenat prides itself on negotiating the very best discounts for students, alumni and young professionals; and working in close partnership with student unions, universities as well as top and emerging brands. For more information, visit www.mecenat.com

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