SER Welcomes New Investment from TA to Accelerate Growth

admin March 21, 2024

Bonn, Germany, 21 March 2024 – SER (the “Company”), a leading global Intelligent Content Automation (“ICA”) software vendor in the Enterprise Content Management (“ECM”) market, today announced that TA Associates (“TA”), a leading global private equity firm, has agreed to make a strategic growth investment in the Company. SER and Carlyle, an investor in SER since 2018, welcome TA as the new lead investor.

“We are delighted to welcome TA to SER as an investor and we are proud that they share our perspective on the significant opportunities ahead for our business,” said Dr. John Bates, CEO of SER. “SER is revolutionizing the way enterprise content is automated, understood and managed. We have amazing customers, a fantastic team and market leading technology. We have had an outstanding partnership with Carlyle, with incredible support throughout the journey, and we are delighted that TA now joins us to supercharge the next phase of growth.”

Since its founding in 1984, SER has developed from a primarily DACH-focused ECM solutions provider into a category-defining ICA player with highly differentiated AI capabilities and an increasingly international enterprise customer base. In partnership with Carlyle, SER built out its senior management team, successfully executed a rapid shift to a subscription-first business model, expanded its innovation-led product offering, and entered new markets including the US, UK, continental Europe, and the Middle East, through considerable organic investment and M&A.

Today, SER has over 600 employees across 20 offices in 11 countries. The Company’s technology is trusted by blue-chip enterprise customers worldwide. SER’s flagship product, Doxis ICA (“Doxis”), combines traditional ECM capabilities with AI-enabled services that are designed to bridge and automate content across best-of-breed apps and multiple vendor ecosystems like SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft and more.

“SER’s impressive suite of next-generation ECM solutions help organizations work faster, smarter and more efficiently,” said Morgan Seigler, Managing Director at TA, and Stefan Dandl, Director at TA. “As the demand for AI-powered technologies continues, we believe SER has a meaningful opportunity to support organizations in their digital transformation journey, harnessing the Doxis platform to streamline document processing and content management needs. We look forward to partnering with Carlyle and SER to accelerate international expansion, invest in AI innovation and enhance the Company’s product offering.”

“We are immensely proud to have partnered with SER during such a significant period of growth and transformation for the business,” said Dr. Thorsten Dippel, Managing Director in the Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (“CETP”) Investment Advisory team. “Through our work with Dr. John Bates and his incredible team, the Company has developed into the category-leading, international ICA software vendor it is today. SER is well-placed to continue its success story as an enterprise software player of scale in the large and growing global ECM market. We are delighted to partner with TA as the new lead investor in SER as the Company enters the next phase of its growth journey.”

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

About SER
Trusted by over 5 million users worldwide, SER is defining Intelligent Content Automation (ICA), the next generation of Enterprise Content Management which leverages AI to provide intelligent content understanding and process automation. SER’s highly scalable Doxis platform brings ICA capabilities into a single, unified platform that works seamlessly across multiple applications and vendor ecosystems, such as SAP, Salesforce and Microsoft. Offering many pre-built solutions and user-friendly no-code tooling, SER’s Doxis delivers rapid time-to-value, superior ROI and lower total cost of ownership for next-generation content applications. Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SER has a well-established market leadership position in DACH and a fast-growing international business with blue-chip customers around the world.

About TA
TA is a leading global private equity firm focused on scaling growth in profitable companies. Since 1968, TA has invested in more than 560 companies across its five target industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services. Leveraging its deep industry expertise and strategic resources, TA collaborates with management teams worldwide to help high-quality companies deliver lasting value. The firm has raised $65 billion in capital to date and has over 150 investment professionals across offices in Boston, Menlo Park, Austin, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA can be found at www.ta.com.

About Carlyle
Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across its business and conducts its operations through three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $426 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2023, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 2,200 people in 28 offices across four continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. For more, follow Carlyle on LinkedIn and X.

Categories: News

Tags: Software

Carlyle-backed SER Welcomes New Investment from TA to Accelerate Growth

admin March 21, 2024

Bonn, Germany, 21 March 2024 – SER (the “Company”), a leading global Intelligent Content Automation (“ICA”) software vendor in the Enterprise Content Management (“ECM”) market, today announced that TA Associates (“TA”), a leading global private equity firm, has agreed to make a strategic growth investment in the Company. SER and Carlyle, an investor in SER since 2018, welcome TA as the new lead investor.

“SER’s impressive suite of next-generation ECM solutions helps organizations work faster, smarter and more efficiently,” said Morgan Seigler, Managing Director at TA, and Stefan Dandl, Director at TA. “As the demand for AI-powered technologies continues, we believe SER has a meaningful opportunity to support organizations in their digital transformation journey, harnessing the Doxis platform to streamline document processing and content management needs. We look forward to partnering with Carlyle and SER to accelerate international expansion, invest in AI innovation and enhance the Company’s product offering.”

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Contacts

For SER
Maureen Cueppers
maureen.cueppers@sergroup.com

For TA
Maggie Benoit
mbenoit@ta.com

For Carlyle
Nicholas Brown
nicholas.brown@carlyle.com

Categories: News

Tags: Software

TA Announces Completion of Tender Offer for Payroll Inc.

admin March 19, 2024 No Comments

BOSTON, HONG KONG AND TOKYO – March 19, 2024 – TA Associates (“TA” or the “Firm”), a leading global private equity firm, through its fund entity K.K. TA Associates Japan 1, today announced the successful completion of its tender offer (the “Offer”) to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares and stock acquisition rights of Payroll Inc. (“Payroll”), a leading mission-critical, tech-enabled payroll services provider for large enterprises in Japan. The Offer was completed as part of a Management Buyout (“MBO”) for Payroll’s shares in partnership with Tetsuya Yuasa, Payroll’s founder and current CEO.

The Offer, which commenced on January 25, 2024, for JPY1,380 in cash per share and JPY 87,000 in cash per stock acquisition right, completed as scheduled on March 11, 2024. At the time of completion of the tender offer period, approximately 87.87% of Payroll’s shares have been tendered on a fully diluted basis (together with the non-tendered shares and stock acquisition rights, the voting rights of which are agreed to be exercised in concert with TA under the non-tender agreements, 97.17% in total). All of such shares have been accepted for payment in accordance with the terms of the Offer, and TA expects to promptly pay for such shares.

As part of the delisting process from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, TA will over the coming months acquire the remaining shares from minority shareholders through a series of procedures and share purchases. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected in Q3 2024, Payroll will become a privately held company, with Mr. Yuasa continuing to serve as CEO and joint shareholder with TA.

“Payroll has established itself as a leading technology-first player in the payroll services industry, demonstrating a strong commitment to innovation and an understanding of customer requirements in Japan,” said Edward F. Sippel, Head of Asia Pacific & Managing Director at TA. “With an attractive service proposition and strong market tailwinds for payroll outsourced services in Japan, we believe Payroll is well-positioned to expand its product portfolio and market presence across Japan. We are excited about the completion of this transaction and honored to partner with Tetsuya Yuasa and Payroll’s management team on the next chapter of the Company’s growth journey.”

The payroll services and solutions market in Japan has seen strong growth in recent years as companies increasingly utilize outsourcing capabilities to address staff shortages, streamline the complex payroll process and allow for companies to focus on their core business. Taking Payroll private will enable the Company to further strengthen its product suite and service offering, and allow for the pursuit and execution of strategic opportunities in the market.

“TA shares our vision for growth, and the Firm’s experience and resources make it a strong partner to accelerate our strategic execution,” said Tetsuya Yuasa. “It’s an exciting time to be part of Payroll, with new opportunities on the horizon for employees and customers alike, and we welcome TA for the next stage of Payroll’s business development.”

“We have been deeply impressed by Tetsuya Yuasa’s vision and strategy for Payroll, which has built the Company into a category leader in the payroll services segment in Japan with best-in-class customer retention,” said Taisuke Asada, Senior Vice President at TA. “We believe TA’s resources and experience scaling growth companies will further accelerate Payroll’s growth, both organically and through M&A, cementing its leading market position in payroll services.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

About TA
TA is a leading global private equity firm focused on scaling growth in profitable companies. Since 1968, TA has invested in more than 560 companies across its five target industries—technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services. Leveraging its deep industry expertise and strategic resources, TA collaborates with management teams worldwide to help high-quality companies deliver lasting value. The firm has raised $65 billion in capital to date and has over 150 investment professionals across offices in Boston, Menlo Park, Austin, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA can be found at www.ta.com.

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Tags: Software

Verdane backs Nordic software leader Ingrid

admin March 19, 2024

Over 85% of shoppers churn after a poor delivery experience
Ingrid creates delivery experiences that fit people’s lives. With over 130 million orders processed, Ingrid’s AI and tech-driven platform is trusted by more than 250 retailers
Ingrid continues expanding and has signed major brands and retailers such as Paul Smith, ME+EM, Sneakersnstuff, Estrid and Farmasiet in the last year
Verdane’s investment will enable the company to continue its international expansion across the Nordic markets, the UK and the Netherlands to become Europe’s leading delivery experience platform

Verdane, the European specialist growth investor, has announced that it has invested in Ingrid, the Sweden-headquartered leading delivery experience platform. The oversubscribed €21 million transaction was led by Verdane with participation from Schibsted Ventures.

Ingrid’s delivery experience platform connects retailers, carriers and consumers to create a better shopping experience. Ingrid optimises e-commerce delivery experiences for more than 250 global online retailers, processing over 40 million orders per year across over 180 countries and is building an increasingly international client lineup, with key recent customer wins including Paul Smith, ME+EM, Sneakersnstuff, Estrid and Farmasiet.

As retail has shifted online, it has created pain points for everyone involved including consumers, retailers and carriers. Delivery has proven to be one of the most impactful, and costly, stages of e-commerce purchases: over 85% of shoppers churn after a poor delivery experience (Ipsos study, 20221); and 53% of shipping costs come from last-mile delivery (EMarketer, 20232). Delivery is not just last-mile; the delivery experience spans the entire e-commerce customer journey. Ingrid’s solutions cover the end-to-end experience from online checkout to order tracking and returns, along with related operations, including transport administration and store-based fulfilment.

With Ingrid, retailers can manage the delivery experience in a multi-dimensional environment including product-specific requirements, multi-channel and/or multi-market, and A/B test to optimise the consumer experience. Consumers receive personalised delivery options that fit their lives thanks to smart logic relying on AI that analyses location, timing, sustainability and more. This has proven to lead to higher on-site conversion rate, lower shipping costs and an increase in shipping revenue for merchants. Ingrid customers have achieved over 15% increases in conversion, 10% net delivery cost savings and 82% increases in shipping revenue.

Ingrid’s management team has partnered with Verdane to continue the company’s growth through international expansion and product development. Ingrid has also recently expanded its product portfolio through the acquisition of returns platform Turnr, announced in November 2023.

Björn Beckman, Principal at Verdane, said: “At Verdane, we are excited to strengthen our partnership with Ingrid – a company we deem to have category leader potential in the European Delivery Experience Software market. With its leading technology and innovative product suite covering the entire e-commerce consumer journey, Ingrid is well-placed to significantly improve the online shopping experience for merchants, carriers and consumers alike. As the preferred partner to growing tech-enabled businesses across Europe and with its extensive experience backing software businesses, Verdane is perfectly positioned to support Ingrid as it continues to grow its platform and scale its operations across Europe. We look forward to closely collaborating with Piotr Zaleski and his team on this journey.”

Piotr Zaleski, CEO and co-founder of Ingrid, said: “Everyone who has ever shopped online has had a bad delivery experience. Ingrid is here to change that. We’re entering a delivery-first era where delivery is no longer an afterthought. Product and price have traditionally been the two key decision drivers for consumers, but delivery is just as integral now. Retailers who don’t adapt to this reality will lose customers to competitors who provide personalised delivery via a wide network of well-known global players and hyper-local carriers. That’s where Ingrid comes in. We are positioned to drive fundamental change in the industry, helping mid-market and enterprise retailers create a delivery experience that drives purchases, customer loyalty and satisfaction.”

About Ingrid

The leading Delivery Experience Platform Ingrid was founded in 2015 with a mission to create deliveries that fit people’s lives. Ingrid connects retailers, carriers, and consumers to help e-commerce businesses drive sustainable growth and give shoppers the power to personalize delivery and returns. The result is a better overall customer experience and greater efficiency for both the retailer and the delivery carrier. From product discovery to potential return, Ingrid’s product portfolio covers the full customer journey. With over 100 employees, Ingrid has offices in Sweden, Poland and the UK. Ingrid has processed more than 130M orders on its platform. Over 250 retailers use the service, including Paul Smith, ME+EM, GANT, Nudie Jeans, Samsoe Samsoe, NA-KD, and more.

About Verdane

Verdane is a specialist growth investment firm that partners with tech-enabled and sustainable European businesses. Verdane can invest as a minority or majority investor, either in single companies or through portfolios of companies, and looks to deploy inside two core growth themes; digitalisation and decarbonisation.

Verdane funds hold over €6.9 billion in total commitments and have made over 400 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003. Verdane’s team of over 140 investment professionals and operating experts, based out of Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, is dedicated to being the preferred growth partner to tech-enabled and sustainable businesses in Europe.

Verdane is also a certified B Corporation, the most ambitious sustainability accreditation globally. The firm only backs businesses that pass its 2040 test, which indicates whether the company can thrive in a more sustainable future economy.

Verdane is partly owned by the Verdane Foundation, which is focused on focused on two areas: climate change and more equitable and inclusive local communities.

Further information: www.verdane.com
Follow Verdane on LinkedIn

Press contacts

Verdane Press Office
press@verdane.com
+44 7462 607105

Categories: News

Tags: Software

Francisco Partners to Acquire Jama Software For $1.2B

admin March 18, 2024

Investment builds on an organic tripling of recurring revenue in 5 years to further extend the company’s leadership position in intelligent engineering management

PORTLAND, Ore. and LONDON, March 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Jama Software®, an industry leading requirements management and traceability solution provider, announced today that Francisco Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Company from shareholders including Insight Partners and Madrona Ventures for $1.2 billion. Marc Osofsky, Jama Software CEO, will personally reinvest and continue to lead the company.

“We are thrilled to work with Francisco Partners and leverage their expertise as we further accelerate our rapid expansion across enterprises, industries and continents”, said Marc Osofsky, CEO, Jama Software. “We thank Insight Partners, who have been tremendous supporters of Jama Software’s growth over the past six years.”

“The engineering management market is in the early stages of a fundamental transformation which Jama Software is at the forefront of. We are ecstatic to be partnering with Marc and his team in continuing to execute on their industry-leading vision and strategy”, said Petri Oksanen and Mario Razzini, Partners at Francisco Partners.

Jama Software has rapidly become a market leader in Requirements Management & Traceability and leads the market in customer satisfaction ratings, NPS scores, SaaS scale, security and SOC2 compliance, usability, performance, breadth and depth of integrations, measured process improvement, benchmarking, NLP and more. Jama Software helps companies intelligently improve their development process to reduce defects, delays, cost overruns and recalls.

“We’re delighted to have collaborated closely with Marc and the Jama Software team as they’ve navigated significant growth and emerged as a market leader,” said Richard Wells, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “As Jama Software embarks on their exciting new chapter of expansion and innovation, this acquisition by Francisco Partners reflects Jama Software’s success and the Company’s ability to consistently deliver exceptional value to customers worldwide.”

The investment by Francisco Partners is subject to customary closing conditions.

Evercore acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Jama Software and Insight Partners and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal advisor. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to Francisco Partners and Paul Hastings LLP acted as legal advisor.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch nearly 25 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in more than 400 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. With approximately $45 billion in capital raised to date, the firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of December 31, 2023, the firm has over $80B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on X @insightpartners.

About Jama Software

Jama Software® is focused on maximizing innovation success in multidisciplinary engineering organizations. Numerous firsts for humanity in fields such as fuel cells, electrification, space, software-defined vehicles, surgical robotics, and more all rely on Jama Connect® requirements management software to minimize the risk of defects, rework, cost overruns, and recalls. Using Jama Connect, engineering organizations can now intelligently manage the development process by leveraging Live Traceability™ across best-of-breed tools to measurably improve outcomes. Our rapidly growing customer base spans the automotive, medical device, life sciences, semiconductor, aerospace & defense, industrial manufacturing, consumer electronics, financial services, and insurance industries.

For more information about Jama Connect services, please visit https://www.jamasoftware.com/

Media Contact

Karrie Sundbom

Senior Director, Corporate Marketing, Jama Software

marketing@jamasoftware.com

Categories: News

Tags: Software

Oakley Capital invests in Horizons Optical

admin March 18, 2024

Oakley Capital, the leading pan-European, mid-market private equity investor, is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital Origin Fund I is investing in Horizons Optical, a provider of medical software used to make premium spectacle lenses.

Origin is acquiring a majority stake in the business alongside CEO Santiago Soler, who will retain a significant share in the business and will continue to lead Horizons. As part of the agreement, Oakley is acquiring the shares in Horizons owned by Sherpa Capital, a leading private equity firm in Iberia.

Founded in Barcelona in 2017, Horizons’ proprietary and patented software is used by independent laboratories around the world to manufacture bespoke, ‘progressive’ lenses that can correct a range of eye conditions including short, mid and far sightedness as well as astigmatism, all in one lens. Lenses manufactured using Horizons’ patented technology are positioned in the highest value-added segments of the optical industry, standing out for their distinctive qualities and outstanding optical performance. 10 million lenses were produced with Horizons’ technology in 2023.

Horizons also provides equipment for opticians with the capability to scan consumers’ faces and measure relevant facial parameters for the manufacturing of lenses and frames.

Horizons has a strong, historical track record generating double-digit revenue growth. The fast-growing business is internationally diversified with Europe and the US each accounting for approximately a third of revenues, followed by APAC and South America.

Horizons operates in a lens market with strong, long-term growth prospects, underpinned by a growing ageing population and the increased incidence of vision conditions caused by excessive screen time on mobile phones and desktop computers. At the same time, Horizons is growing the market by developing tools to help opticians sell to more customers, including its recently-launched Mimesys virtual reality headset which enables optometrists to accurately measure customers’ eyes in order to produce bespoke lenses.

Oakley’s Investment

Oakley’s investment in Horizons reflects its strategy of partnering with founder-led, entrepreneurial businesses to help them innovate and accelerate growth. Oakley will leverage its strong track record of building market leaders to help Horizon accelerate its international growth plans, taking market share as a high-quality, innovative solution for lens manufacturers and opticians looking to offer bespoke eyecare solutions for consumers, while also leveraging its strong market reputation for exceptional customer service. Oakley will also support investment into R&D and Sales & Marketing to ensure Horizons continues to win as an innovator and disruptor in its core markets.

News

Oakley Capital invests in Spanish transport and logistics software business Alerce30.10.23

This will be Oakley’s sixth deal in Spain, following vLex, Seedtag, Alerce, Grupo Primavera (now part of Cegid), idealista, and several education assets, reinforcing its commitment to Iberia as a key investment destination. It will also be Origin I’s 9^th investment after which the Fund will be c.75% invested.

Horizons Optical has all the hallmarks of a typical Oakley deal: a disruptive market leader, with strong software IP and led by an exceptional management team. We look forward to working with Santiago to help the business realise its full potential, taking advantage of strong market growth drivers as well as leveraging our expertise helping to scale software businesses including Grupo Primavera in Iberia.

Peter Dubens

Founder and Managing Partner — Oakley Capital

Our focus on quality, innovation and exceptional customer care have driven Horizons’ strong performance to date. Oakley clearly shares our values and so we are delighted to be partnering with the firm as we embark on the next stage of our expansion. We have travelled this path of growth alongside a strong partner in Sherpa Capital, to whom we are grateful not only for their investment in Horizons and belief in our potential but also for providing the company with a spirit of continuous improvement and excellence. We see enormous potential to further grow our international business, benefitting from Oakley’s expertise to expand our service offering and drive professional improvements across our business.

Santiago Soler

CEO — Horizons Optical

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Tags: healthcare Software

Additional capital for app NeoTaste to continue international expansion.

admin March 15, 2024

Last summer, Burda Principal Investment (BPI) led NeoTaste’s Series A funding round. Now, the growth capital provider of Hubert Burda Media is also participating in the next round. The app-based solution for connecting restaurants with their customers convinced BPI with its early traction, scalability, and network effects.

Scalability and network effects convinced BPI early on

The company raised €15.1 million in the current Series A extension which was led by European venture capital fund Earlybird.

The app is based on bringing consumers and restaurants together on the platform to create a win-win situation. Consumers receive exclusive dining deals and restaurants can expand their customer base. The service is free of charge for restaurants and funded by a subscription model on the consumer-side. Over the past six months, BPI’s portfolio company has shown impressive growth figures: In August 2023, 300,000 users were able to choose from around 1,300 restaurants in 13 German cities. Today, 750,000 consumers use the app, which provides them access to deals in more than 3,000 restaurants across 27 German cities. And the offer is continuously growing: the start-up is currently adding one new city to their offering every week.

Aiming for further international expansion and new features

Apart from expanding to multiple German cities, NeoTaste has also started to go international this year. Amsterdam, the first city outside of Germany, was launched in February and the capital from the current funding round will be used to continue international expansion. NeoTaste aims to make the app available in numerous additional German and European cities by the end of the year. Additionally, NeoTaste is planning new features to further enhance the digital interaction between restaurants and customers, including direct reservation capabilities.

“Our investment in NeoTaste in the summer of 2023 was a clear commitment to the company’s impressive growth and potential. The success beyond our expectations, especially in terms of expansion and internationalisation, reinforces our enthusiasm,” says Friedrich von Wulffen, Investment Manager at BPI.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Hendrik, Tobias and the entire team – now alongside Earlybird as a new and strong partner,” adds Juli an von Eckartsberg, Managing Director Europe at BPI.

“”The last six months of collaboration between NeoTaste and BPI have been an incredible journey. Julian and Friedrich recognised the potential of NeoTaste early on and placed a lot of trust in us. We are very pleased that we have been able to turn this trust into action and results at an early stage. Receiving further capital just six months after the last funding round opens new doors for us. After a successful partnership so far, we are delighted that BPI is again participating in this round and continues to place its trust in us”, explains NeoTaste CEO Hendrik Sander.

Win-win for restaurants and consumers

NeoTaste Co-Founders Hendrik Sander and Tobias Düser launched the app in September 2021. After using the time during the covid pandemic, when restaurants were closed, to prepare their platform, NeoTaste was subsequently launched with first deals in Hanover. While subscribers benefit from offers – such as ‘two main courses for the price of one’ – the restaurant can use NeoTaste to promote itself, generate new customers and receive customer reviews.

NeoTaste

Founding members of Neotaste: Tobias Düser and Hendrik Sander

NeoTaste

Through the B2C platform, restaurants can offer exclusive deals and users can discover new locations

by Katharina Richter

Senior PR Manager, Hubert Burda Media
katharina.richter@burda.com

Categories: News

Tags: Software

Nordic Capital to invest in leading digital insurance payments network One Inc to drive continued growth and product innovation

admin March 14, 2024

Strategic investment will support One Inc’s mission to digitalize and modernize the insurance industry

Nordic Capital, one of the most active and experienced investors in Technology & Payments globally, today announced that it will join Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm that invests in high-growth, disruptive companies, as an investor in One Inc (the “Company”), a digital payments platform specializing in modernizing the insurance industry in North America. Great Hill Partners invested in One Inc in 2020 and will retain an equal stake to Nordic Capital alongside a significant continuing investment from the Company’s current management team.

Founded in 2012, One Inc’s mission is to help insurance companies digitalize and modernize payments through cutting-edge technology that places customers at the center of every transaction. From premium payments to claims disbursement, One Inc strives to ensure a frictionless experience, merging all payment flows into one comprehensive platform. One Inc Digital Payments Platform is designed to integrate with modern and legacy insurance core systems, engaging policyholders through the channels they use most while securely processing payments through those same channels. Today, the Company has close to 500 employees, handles annual payments of USD 70 billion, and has one of the largest networks in the industry with over 700,000 vendors. One Inc proudly serves over 240 customers in the insurance industry, including Amica Insurance, MAPFRE, SageSure, Tower Hill Insurance, Wawanesa Insurance, and others.

The insurance industry faces a landscape defined by digital transformation, economic shifts, and environmental disruption, prompting it to innovate and optimize. One Inc’s payment network is well-positioned to accelerate and drive transformation, currently demonstrating over 65% year-over-year revenue growth.

Nordic Capital has over 30 years of experience accelerating the growth of innovative technology companies and is set to leverage its deep sub-sector and operational knowledge to create value and boost One Inc’s ambitious plans. Nordic Capital also has a long history of investing in partnerships with owners, founders, and management. It has made 30 technology investments in companies with an aggregate enterprise value of over EUR 24 billion. It made its first investment in Payments 20 years ago and has since partnered with several innovative payment companies, including Point International, Bambora, Trustly, and PayWithMyBank. In addition, Nordic Capital has invested in a variety of financial services businesses – including insurance carriers – for many years, bringing an extensive network of industrial advisors and an in-house operations team. This transaction represents Nordic Capital’s third investment in an innovative software company in North America in the last couple of months.

Fredrik Näslund, Partner and Head of Technology & Payments, and Mohit Agnihotri, Partner, Nordic Capital Advisors, said: “Nordic Capital is a longtime admirer of One Inc, which has stood out for solving the unique and complex challenges of digital payments in the insurance industry. Through its innovative solutions, the Company is transforming and simplifying payments for the entire insurance ecosystem benefitting carriers, consumers, and vendors alike. The management team, together with Great Hill Partners, has achieved impressive results. Nordic Capital is thrilled to be joining them for the next leg of the Company’s growth journey and utilizing our combined deep sector experience, extensive network, and active owner approach to fuel One Inc’s ambitious growth plans even further.”

Matt Vettel and Nick Cayer, Managing Directors at Great Hill Partners, said: “One Inc has been at the forefront of helping to shape the future of the insurance industry through digitalization and transformative products that seek to make the payment process as seamless as possible. Led by a seasoned and talented management team, the Company has consistently demonstrated its ability to innovate for customers. Since our initial investment in One Inc, the business has rapidly grown volume processed by 13x and is still early in market adoption, so we continue to have strong conviction in its potential to further scale. We welcome Nordic Capital to the investor group and look forward to combining our expertise with their deep industry experience to support the Company’s continued growth.”

Ian Drysdale, CEO of One Inc, said: “We have built an amazing business in collaboration with our insurer clients by putting them at the center of everything we do. We continue to see exponential growth and excellent customer loyalty, underscoring the strength of our model and industry-leading payments network of more than 700,000 vendors. The sector experience and resources that Nordic Capital and Great Hill bring to this partnership will fuel additional product innovation and drive new opportunities for growth as we continue to provide solutions that improve efficiency and boost revenue for today’s insurers.”

In addition to One Inc, Great Hill’s current portfolio of financial technology and payment companies includes NMI, Paytronix, Vanco and VersaPay. Prior financial technology and payment investments include Accelerated Payment Technologies, AffiniPay, BillMatrix, Chrome River, Confirmation.com, Custom House, MineralTree and Vigo.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the investment is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Raymond James, J.P. Morgan and TD Cowen are serving as financial advisors and Goodwin Procter LLP as legal advisor to One Inc. William Blair is serving as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as legal advisor to Nordic Capital.

About One Inc

One Inc is modernizing the insurance industry through a unified and frictionless payment network. Focusing only on the insurance industry, One Inc helps carriers transform their operations by reducing costs, increasing security, and optimizing customer experience. The comprehensive end-to-end digital payments platform provides expanded payment options, multi-channel digital communications and rapid digital claim payments, even for more complex insurance use cases. As one of the fastest-growing digital payments platforms in the insurance industry, One Inc manages billions of dollars per year in premiums and claim payments. For more information, please visit www.oneinc.com.

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading sector-specialist private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested over EUR 25 billion in more than 145 investments. The most recent entities are Nordic Capital XI with EUR 9.0 billion in committed capital and Nordic Capital Evolution with EUR 1.2 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, the UK, the US, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and South Korea. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com.

“Nordic Capital” refers to, depending on the context, any, or all, Nordic Capital branded entities, vehicles, structures, and associated entities. The general partners and/or delegated portfolio managers of Nordic Capital’s entities and vehicles are advised by several non-discretionary sub-advisory entities, any or all of which are referred to as “Nordic Capital Advisors.”

About Great Hill Partners

Founded in 1998, Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm targeting investments in high-growth companies across the software, digital commerce, financial technology, healthcare, and digital infrastructure sectors. With offices in Boston and London, Great Hill has raised over $12 billion of commitments and invested in more than 95 companies, establishing an extensive track record of building long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs and providing flexible resources to help middle-market companies scale. Great Hill has been recognized for its industry leadership, being ranked #4 in the 2023 HEC Paris-Dow Jones Mid-Market Buyout Performance Ranking on March 6, 2024, which evaluated fund performance of 632 leading private equity firms between 2010-2019[1]. For more information, including a list of all Great Hill investments, visit www.greathillpartners.com.

Media contacts:

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud
Communications Manager, Nordic Capital Advisors
+46 8 440 50 50
katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

US media contact – Brunswick Group
NordicCapital@brunswickgroup.com

Great Hill Partners
FGS Global
greathill@fgsglobal.com
+1 212 687-8080

One Inc
Ana Pallas
Stanton Public Relations & Marketing
apallas@stantonprm.com
+1 415 867-6262

[1] Great Hill Partners did not submit a nomination to be considered for this list nor did it pay to be selected to/included on the list.

Categories: News

Tags: Insurance Software

Questel Achieves New Milestone for AI-Elevated Intellectual Property Solutions with Strategic Acquisition of qatent

admin March 11, 2024

Questel, a global leader in intellectual property (IP) management and technology services, is proud to announce the acquisition of qatent, a tech company whose use of artificial intelligence (AI) has broken new ground in the IP sector. This acquisition will bring forth a new era of sophisticated, AI-enhanced tools and services that will elevate global IP portfolio management. Questel’s acquisition of qatent represents a key component of its strategy to integrate AI-driven solutions into software and services at a level never before seen in the IP industry. With its extensive generative AI expertise and proven applications, qatent aligns perfectly with Questel’s vision for elevated AI-driven IP solutions.

qatent emerged from the distinguished AI research center INRIA Paris and has since become a cornerstone of innovation in the use of AI for IP management thanks to the leadership of its diverse and international team. Founded by a French IP attorney and a leading German AI researcher, from the Université Paris-Saclay, a European scientific and technological excellence cluster, qatent is not only pioneering the application of AI technologies in patent search and drafting but has already achieved notable success in these areas.

Remarking on the acquisition, Charles Besson, CEO at Questel, said: “The significance of AI in our field necessitates an internalized approach which partnerships simply cannot offer. In addition to immediately impacting patent drafting and searching, AI will directly benefit several of our other products such as Equinox, our highly successful IPMS solution.”

Echoing this sentiment, François Veltz, CEO at qatent, said: “qatent has always positioned the IP practitioners at the heart of its strategy, with the aim of augmenting them through machine capabilities.” “The unparalleled richness and structure of the Questel global patent, trademark and design databases is an incredible learning ground for our algorithms and will quickly give more depth to our calculations,” added Kim Gerdes, CTO at qatent.

Joining the Questel group enables qatent to overcome several previously insurmountable obstacles; in particular, the confidentiality of customer data according to the ISO 27001 standard for information security, cybersecurity, and privacy protection.

Questel’s integration of qatent’s capabilities not only enriches Questel’s AI Labs network across France, Germany, the USA, and Japan but also reaffirms its position as a tech leader in the IP services sector.

About Questel

Questel is a true end-to-end intellectual property solutions provider to more than 20,000 clients and one million users across 30 countries. Around our cutting-edge IPMS Equinox, Questel offers a comprehensive scope of software and services for managing all types of IP assets (Patent, Trademark, Design, Domain Name, Copyright, etc.) including searching, analyzing, and watching, international filing, translation, renewals and recordals. These solutions, when combined with our IP cost management platform, deliver clients an average savings of 30-60% across the entire prosecution budget. For more details about Questel and our innovative solutions, please visit www.questel.ai.

About qantent

Originating from the world-renowned INRIA Paris Research Center, qatent is a distinguished company committed to advancing intellectual property management through artificial intelligence. Founded by eminent figures in AI research and IP law, qatent is at the cutting edge of developing solutions that significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of patent research, drafting, and a wide array of IP services.

Categories: News

Tags: Software

BB Capital takes majority stake in health app VYTAL

admin March 5, 2024

THE HAGUE – BB Capital Investments has taken a majority stake in VYTAL, an IT platform specialized in digital total solutions for the sports and health industry. Both parties announced this today. The company from Alphen aan den Rijn will use the investment to expand its unique market position in the Netherlands and Europe.

VYTAL supplies a complete software package to support coaches in their business processes and coaching activities. The company has been active in the growing digital health solutions market since 2019. The nutrition app managed to develop into an innovative platform with a complete offering where users and providers come together. The entire team of ten employees remains active from the head office in Alphen aan den Rijn.

Stephan Laurs, founder and CEO: “With BB Capital on board, we can roll out our strategy to become the all-in-one platform for coaches even more effectively. Our mission is to create a real vitality movement where, on the one hand, we help our users to become and remain vital, while we give our coaches all the tools to support users in this. From business administration to community and marketing support.”

Susan van Koeveringe, Managing Partner BB Capital Investments: “VYTAL has a clear focus on building a digital platform within which all activities for coaches come together. With the knowledge and drive of the VYTAL team, we are working with ambition to offer a total solution in this growing but fragmented market. We are excited to build a strong and innovative company together, both through organic growth and through multiple follow-up acquisitions in the Netherlands and abroad.”

Categories: News

Tags: Software

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