Alpine Acquires Outdoor Recreation Software Leader Aspira

Alpine

Guesty Raises $50M in Series D Funding

Apax
Following an unimaginable year in hospitality, the investment highlights the resilience and promise of alternative accommodation.

LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2021 – Guesty, the leading property management platform that automates and streamlines all complex operational needs accompanying short-term rental management, today announced it has raised $50M in Series D funding, led by the Apax Digital Fund with participation from the AMI Opportunities Fund, both advised by Apax Partners (“Apax”), and existing investors Viola Growth, Flashpoint, Vertex Ventures, Kingfisher Investment Advisors and La Maison Partners.

The round brings the company’s total funding to $110M, cementing its position as the highest-funded property management software fueling the alternative accommodation ecosystem, a competitive market in which small and large hospitality brands are increasingly relying on robust tech solutions to professionalize their operations in order to grow and scale.

“We are entering an exciting chapter in our company’s life cycle with short-term rentals having gone mainstream as a direct result of the pandemic, now catering to an increased user base that expects the comfort and privacy of a home coupled with hotel-like amenities,” said Amiad Soto, Co-Founder & CEO of Guesty. “US 2021 summer reservation volume alone is currently 282% higher compared to last year and 32% higher compared to pre-COVID, 2019 volume. These numbers highlight a bright future ahead, and Guesty is looking forward to being there every step of the way to support our customers and an industry that has shown resilience during an unimaginable year in which many had to quickly pivot and adjust their business models to stay afloat. We are coming out on the other side stronger, together as a community that believes in the evolution of travel.”

News of the round follows Guesty’s announcement earlier this month that it acquired fellow property management software and Y Combinator alum, MyVR, to expand the company’s already strong footprint in North America and bring more standardization to the space. Today, the company is also announcing it has acquired property management software, Your Porter. Both acquisitions will continue Guesty’s goal of powering hosting businesses of all sizes – ranging from small, family-run operations to enterprise-sized hospitality brands.

Guesty will use the investment and growing team to power a year of hypergrowth in key markets, enhance its product capabilities to serve diverse customer segments, onboard top-notch talent and ultimately, be a pillar of support for the entrepreneurs who have built businesses off the democratization of hospitality. The company will also continue to build out its Marketplace of third-party integration partners – from digital concierges to remote staff management systems to keyless entry solutions – in order to aid customers in providing “contact-free” guest experiences, all from within the Guesty dashboard.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with the team at Guesty to help accelerate their mission to bring sophisticated property management solutions to a rapidly shifting global ecosystem,” said Daniel O’Keefe, Managing Partner at Apax Digital, who will join Guesty’s Board of Directors. “Guesty is a stand-out player in a rapidly growing market,” added Dave Evans, Principal at Apax Digital. “Having just acquired MyVR and Your Porter, and given the company’s differentiated product offering, Guesty is now the logical platform to consolidate the market, working with hosting businesses of all sizes.”

With the understanding that travel would recover, Guesty kept busy over the last year, enhancing the platform’s functionalities to support more property types, including multi-unit listings and aparthotels. The company also focused on addressing consumer behavioral patterns that emerged as a result of the pandemic by opening up the platform to support extended stays of one month or longer.

Since graduating from Y Combinator in 2014, Guesty has continued to build a flexible, smart software in a fragmented market, providing customers in over 80 countries with an end-to-end solution in which they can manage their portfolio of properties across a variety of online travel platforms. Looking to the future, Guesty will continue to push collaboration and innovation in a dynamic ecosystem that is poised for success.

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Audax Private Equity Completes the Sale of Corsearch to Astorg

Audax Group

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has successfully completed the sale of Corsearch to Astorg.

Corsearch provides innovative Brand Risk and Performance™ solutions to law firms and enterprise customers. Corsearch’s suite of software and services supports a brand owners’ creation and protection of intellectual property assets using innovative IP clearance tools and online brand protection including counterfeit and piracy solutions. Corsearch has more than 800 employees across Europe, North America and Asia and serves over 5,000 clients around the world including many of the world’s Fortune 100 companies.

Since being acquired by Audax in 2018, Corsearch has undergone a period of transformation, growth, and success:

Completed the carve-out from Wolters Kluwer, invested in new technology infrastructure and streamlined global operations
Completed eight add-on acquisitions globally which expanded the company’s product offerings, added new customers, and vertically integrated key functions
Invested in technology and research & development capabilities to support new product innovation
Tim Mack, Managing Director at Audax, said, “We’re incredibly proud of our partnership with the Corsearch team, their strategic transformation, and consistent customer focus. Over the course of our investment, Corsearch further expanded in online brand protection with cutting-edge solutions that are transforming how companies commercialize and protect their growth. We’re excited to retain a minority investment in Corsearch, and wish the team continued success with Astorg’s support.”

Tobias Hartmann, Chief Executive Officer of Corsearch, commented, “Audax has been an instrumental partner over the last three years, especially following Corsearch’s spin off from Wolters Kluwer into an independent, standalone company. The Audax team leveraged their deep investment expertise, global resources, and operational experience to accelerate our growth plans while enhancing our ability to meet the evolving needs of our global customer base. We thank them for their partnership and look forward to embarking on our next phase of growth with Astorg.”

Harris Williams & Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Corsearch.

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Zoomin raises $52M to meet rapidly rising demand for its knowledge orchestration solutions

General Atlantic

Series C funding led by General Atlantic will enable Zoomin to provide an increasingly vital self-service product content experience to enterprises amid accelerated market growth

Zoomin Software, a leading provider of knowledge orchestration solutions, today announced that it has raised a $52M Series C round led by General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, with participation from returning investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures and Viola Growth. The new investment follows the company’s last funding announcement only four months ago and comes as Zoomin is experiencing a surge in demand, with a growing number of enterprises recognizing the strategic value of product content.

Every enterprise creates massive amounts of product content – such as user guides, knowledge articles and community discussions – that help customers use products to their greatest potential. Zoomin is setting a new standard for product experiences by transforming this trove of content into intuitive self-service experiences for customers. Its platform continuously ingests evolving product information from all sources and delivers the most relevant, personalized product answers to each user, wherever they need it. This includes documentation sites, customer service portals, support communities, product applications and more.

Zoomin has been on a strong growth trajectory as a result of highly accelerated demand for its product content solutions. In 2020, the company more than doubled the number of new customers compared to 2019 and saw a surge in usage and adoption, with an over 300% increase in the volume of product content served through its platform. This reflects heightened demand for intuitive product content solutions as broader customer experience trends shift.

Customers increasingly desire to self-serve answers rather than rely on enterprise support teams, with customer adoption of digital support channels nearly doubling in 2020 and 60% of businesses expected to implement self-service portals within the next 12-18 months to cater to this demand. By empowering end-users to independently find information, Zoomin served over 55 million product answers worldwide last year alone. For many Zoomin enterprise customers, this improved user experience led to product content accounting for up to 70% of their overall web traffic. Data-driven insights yielded from these content interactions are able to drive important enterprise KPIs such as decreased support costs, increased customer retention and improved customer satisfaction.

“This investment attests to the increased demand among companies across industries – spanning hardware and software, financial services, healthcare and even fast-food – to provide a seamless, intuitive product content experience to their customers,” said Gal Oron, co-founder and CEO of Zoomin. “We look forward to further powering our go-to-market machine and to radically enhancing what is essentially the front-line of every company.”

Zoomin will use the new funds to further fuel its go-to-market strategy and to expand its product offering and analytics to a wider range of enterprise organizations, in order to meet the growing demand. Additionally, the new funding will enable Zoomin to increase market share in EMEA and expand into the APAC region.

“We are excited to be supporting Zoomin in this important step of their growth story through an investment that marks our third-ever partnership in the burgeoning Israeli tech market. At General Atlantic, we pride ourselves on identifying category builders and growth-oriented disruptors, and view Zoomin as a natural fit given those priorities,” said Alex Crisses, Managing Director, Global Head of New Investment Sourcing and Co-Head of Emerging Growth at General Atlantic.

“Having helped build the increasingly important field of knowledge orchestration from the ground up, Zoomin is providing much-needed value to large enterprises,” continued Gary Reiner, a current General Atlantic Operating Partner and previous GE Chief Information Officer. “We look forward to partnering with and supporting Zoomin as they continue to innovate the way that customers experience crucial enterprise product content.”

About Zoomin

Zoomin Software is a leading knowledge orchestration platform, empowering enterprise customers to independently use products to their greatest potential. Zoomin continuously ingests evolving product information from all siloed sources and delivers the most relevant, personalized product answers to each user, wherever they need it, within an intuitive, self-service experience. This radically improved product content experience deepens product usage, prevents frustration-driven churn and reduces burden on support. Using machine learning-powered analytics, Zoomin provides actionable insights that guide decision-making across the enterprise. Zoomin is backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, General Atlantic, Salesforce Ventures and Viola Growth, was named a 2020 Gartner Cool Vendor and is an official partner of Salesforce and ServiceNow. Founded by Gal Oron, Joe Gelb and Hannan Saltzman, Zoomin is headquartered in NYC, with offices in Tel Aviv and London. For more information visit www.zoominsoftware.com.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon, and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

Media Contacts

Mary Armstrong & Emily Japlon
General Atlantic media@generalatlantic.com

Allison Grey
Headline Media +1-323-283-8176 allison@headline.media

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Sogelink and Geodesial Group join forces to create a European Construction Tech leader with the support of Keensight Capital

Keensight

Sogelink and Geodesial Group, two leading providers of software solutions for infrastructure, construction and property management professionals, announce their merger to establish a new European Construction Tech leader, supported by their common shareholder Keensight Capital, one of the leading private equity managers dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout1 investments.

With around 300 employees across nine offices (in France, Hungary, and Canada), 34,000 clients and 130,000 users, the resulting Group will become a leading company for Construction Tech in Europe and is well positioned to join the top 10 French software companies.

The new Group will offer a unique combination of best-of-breed and mission-critical software solutions used to simplify and optimize complex business processes in the building, infrastructure and property management industry. It will become an undisputed leader in this market and will be uniquely positioned to leverage on long-term growth drivers such as the digitalization of construction, the BIM (Building Information Modeling) adoption, and increased regulations.

The new Group plans to accelerate its growth, with the ambition of becoming the Construction Tech leader in the European markets by:
– Developing R&D, innovation and commercial synergies to enrich offering for clients from all infrastructure, construction and property management ecosystems, including public agencies and local authorities;
– Boosting its international development, though organic expansion and build-up opportunities.
After having worked with the two management teams to make this merger possible, Keensight Capital will be putting its 20 years of cutting-edge expertise in Technology and its international network to help the Group strengthen its leadership position at a European level.
The new Group will be led by Fatima Berral as President of the new Group, CEO of Sogelink, and David Le Roux as Director General of the new Group, CEO of Geodesial Group.

Fatima Berral, President of the new Group and CEO of Sogelink, says: “For several years now, Sogelink and Geodesial had identified their complementarities. Today, thanks to the support of our common investor Keensight, we are all convinced that this is the perfect time for our two companies to combine forces to join the top 10 software companies in France and accelerate our international growth. With the merger, the Group enhances its know-how in terms of software and services development for its clients. We are thrilled to begin this new ambitious chapter, together with David and his talented team.” 1 Growth Buyout: investment in profitable, private companies experiencing strong growth, in minority or majority positions, with or without leverage, using a flexible approach tailored to the needs of individual entrepreneurs, in order to finance organic growth projects, acquisition strategies or provide historic shareholders with liquidity.

David Le Roux, Director General of the new Group and CEO of Geodesial Group, adds: “We are very enthusiastic about this merger with Sogelink, which stands as a pioneer and as the undisputed market leader. With this major step, Geodesial will be able to co-develop new solutions, especially in the mobile cloud, a fast-growing market. Our companies both being Construction Tech gems, the combination of our respective expertise and strengths will reinforce our leading position and our ability to seize market opportunities, with an objective of significantly increasing revenues abroad by 2025. I am very happy to gather our teams on the same digital platform as we all share the same vision to offer the best innovative solution and services to our clients.”
Jean-Michel Beghin, Managing Partner of Keensight Capital, concludes: “Over the past year, we have been working hand in hand with Fatima Berral and David Le Roux, two remarkable CEOs, on this combination to create the Construction Tech leader. We invested in Geodesial in September 2019 and in Sogelink in December of the same year. Each company has experienced a steady double-digit annual growth over the past years and has a high growth potential on its own. Today, the combination of these two success stories will accelerate the value creation for all stakeholders and paves the way for its international expansion.”
* * *

About Sogelink
Founded in 2000, Sogelink provides software, cloud and mobile solutions for all players in the infrastructure, construction and property management ecosystem. All solutions are supported by a technological services platform, notably when it comes to exchanging very large flows of data.
With some 30 000 clients and more than 100,000 users, Sogelink aims to become the unrivalled expert in the collaborative, digital and smart management of data in 2D/3D/4D across its ecosystem.
www sogelink fr

About Geodesial
GEODESIAL group, with its subsidiaries Geomedia, Geomensura and Bloc in Bloc, develops and markets software in the trades of geomatics, studies of urban development and transport infrastructure. Thanks to a sustained strategy of R&D investments, GEODESIAL group offers business solutions in the office as well as on site (field software) with an innovative approach for BIM (Building Information Modeling) and CIM (City Information Modeling). Since 1993, the group has also been one of the first distributors of Autodesk’s AEC collection in France.
www geodesial com

About Keensight Capital
Keensight Capital, one of the leading European Growth Buyout firms, is committed to supporting entrepreneurs as they implement their growth strategies. For 20 years, Keensight Capital’s team of seasoned professionals has leveraged their knowledge of investment and growth industries to invest for the long term in profitable companies with high growth potential and revenues in the range of €10 million to €300 million. Drawing on its expertise in the Technology and Healthcare sectors, Keensight identifies the best investment opportunities in Europe and works closely with management teams to develop and achieve their strategic vision.
www keensightcapital com

Media Contacts
Keensight Capital
Anne de Bonnefon – abonnefon@keensightcapital.com- +33 1 83 79 87 37
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Estelle Bleuze – estelle.bleuze@citigatedewerogerson.com – +33 6 82 65 44 36
Sogelink
La Nouvelle Agence
Maurine Cassin – sogelink@lanouvelle-agence.com- +33 (0)1 83 81 71 40

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Unit4 Announces Strategic Growth Buyout by TA Associates for a Transaction Value in Excess of US$2 Billion

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TA associates

Partnership with TA will accelerate Unit4’s global growth ambitions, both organically through cloud-based product innovation and through M&A to unlock new markets and industries

LONDON – Unit4, a global leader in enterprise cloud software for people-centric organizations, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to receive a majority investment from TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm. Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, will invest alongside TA, on behalf of its clients. Mike Ettling, CEO of Unit4, will continue to lead the company, supported by the existing management team. Advent International, the current majority shareholder in Unit4, will exit its stake in the company.

Unit4 and TA will partner to further accelerate the company’s vision of “people-centric ERP” (Enterprise Resource Planning) for mid-market enterprise organizations. As a leader that innovates for and serves people-based services industries including professional services, public sector, nonprofit and higher education, this partnership with TA will help Unit4 address the specific challenges and requirements of organizations in these industries globally.

“Our partnership with TA and Partners Group couldn’t come at a better time. With the launch of ERPx, our next generation cloud-native ERP platform, expansion of our global partner ecosystem, the creation of a strong and viable customer community with Community 4U, and deeper “people” investment in our core and growth markets, Unit4 is poised to see dramatic growth through this next phase of our journey,” said Mike Ettling, CEO of Unit4. “Our customers have expressed a need for rapid innovation, not just efficiencies, to support their growth aspirations while continuing to navigate the headwinds of the global pandemic. We believe our game-changing software and people-first, services-based mindset will help our customers thrive as the market begins to regain its momentum.”

“We have followed Unit4 for many years and have been impressed with the company’s growth and dedication, under Mike’s leadership, to serving mid-market, people-centric organizations, which aligns well with our investment philosophy,” said Morgan Seigler, a Managing Director of TA and co-head of TA’s Europe Technology Group. “We are excited to partner with Mike and the Unit4 team in the next phase of their journey and to help them invest in and deliver industry-relevant enterprise solutions that drive retention, expansion and growth in organizations across the globe.”

“Unit4 is a high-quality software solutions business with strong fundamentals and significant potential for transformative growth. TA is a firm we know very well, and we are delighted to partner with them on acquiring this exciting business,” added Bilge Ogut, Partner, Global Head Private Equity Technology, Partners Group.

The transaction is expected to close in early summer of 2021 pending customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

Arma Partners and Evercore are serving as financial advisors and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek is acting as legal counsel to Unit4. Alvarez & Marsal is serving as financial and tax advisor, and Kirkland & Ellis is acting as legal counsel to TA Associates.

About Unit4
Unit4’s next-generation enterprise solutions power many of the world’s most people-focused mid-market services organizations. Our cloud ERP, HCM and FP&A applications transform work to be more meaningful and inspiring through software that’s self-driving, adaptive and intuitive, intelligently automating administrative tasks while providing easy access to the answers people need. Unit4 serves more than 6,000 customers in industries including professional services, public sector, nonprofit, and education. For more information please visit www.unit4.com, follow us on Twitter @Unit4global, or visit our LinkedIn page.

About TA Associates
TA is a leading global growth private equity firm. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – the firm invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $33.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $3 billion per year. The firm’s more than 100 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA can be found at www.ta.com.

About Partners Group
Partners Group is a leading global private markets investment manager. Since 1996, the firm has invested over USD 145 billion in private equity, private real estate, private debt and private infrastructure on behalf of its clients globally. Partners Group is a committed, responsible investor and aims to create broad stakeholder impact through its active ownership and development of growing businesses, attractive real estate and essential infrastructure. With over USD 109 billion in assets under management as of 31 December 2020, Partners Group serves a broad range of institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and private individuals globally. The firm employs more than 1,500 diverse professionals across 20 offices worldwide and has regional headquarters in Baar-Zug, Switzerland; Denver, USA; and Singapore. It has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 2006 (symbol: PGHN). For more information, please visit www.partnersgroup.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

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TA Associates Makes a $100 Million Strategic Investment in Appfire to Partner With Silversmith Capital Partners to Accelerate Company’s Growth

TA associates

Leader in Atlassian Ecosystem Secures Growth Stage Financing to Support Continued Expansion and Accelerate the Broad Adoption of its Digital Transformation Apps

BOSTON, MA – Appfire, a leading provider of apps that help teams solve modern challenges with digital solutions, today announced that it has received a $100 million investment from TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm. With this investment, Appfire intends to continue its leadership within the Atlassian ecosystem with more than 85 purpose-built products on the Atlassian Marketplace and over 110,000 active installations worldwide.

TA’s investment in Appfire comes on the heels of a $49 million strategic investment from Silversmith Capital Partners in May 2020. Since Silversmith’s investment, Appfire has made six acquisitions within the Atlassian ecosystem—Artemis, Beecom, Bolo, Botron, Innovalog and Navarambh—significantly expanding the company’s footprint.

“TA’s commitment to growth and innovation aligns with our passion for helping teams everywhere drive efficiency and productivity,” said Randall Ward, CEO of Appfire. “We believe this investment is a testament to Appfire’s outstanding team and a clear validation of our vision, strategy and execution. We are excited to continue our partnership with Silversmith and welcome TA as a strategic growth partner.”

Founded in 2005 as a professional services company, Appfire was one of the first Atlassian partners and transitioned to a product company in 2013. The Appfire team has developed domain expertise in creating, launching and distributing apps through the Atlassian Marketplace. The company’s growing portfolio of apps empowers teams worldwide with workflow automation, business intelligence, publishing and administrative tools, at companies, including Google, Amazon and Starbucks.

“We are thrilled to complete this strategic investment in Appfire and to support Randall and his team in the next stage of the company’s evolution,” said Michael Libert, a principal at TA Associates, and Hythem El-Nazer, a managing director at TA Associates. “We look forward to working closely with the Appfire and Silversmith teams in driving organic growth, leveraging the company’s robust M&A platform and supporting Atlassian’s goal of having best-of-breed products.”

“Since our investment a year ago, Appfire’s exceptional team, unique culture and strong products have helped leading companies around the world navigate an accelerated need for digital-first, cloud-native solutions. Customers leverage Appfire’s workflow automation, data integration, administration and reporting apps to do their best work,” said Sri Rao, general partner, Silversmith Capital Partners. “We are thrilled to partner with Hythem, Michael and the TA team as Appfire enters an exciting next phase of evolution.”

As part of the investment, Michael Libert and Hythem El-Nazer of TA have joined Appfire’s Board of Directors.

“Appfire is a great example of the incredible innovation occurring in the Atlassian marketplace and how our ecosystem can provide customers with the tools and technologies they need to unleash the potential of every team,” said Martin Musierowicz, head of channel, Atlassian. “Appfire continues to deliver great capabilities for our customers, and we’re excited to support their continued growth.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Appfire and TA Associates. Baird served as the exclusive financial advisor to Appfire.

About Appfire
Appfire is an award-winning Atlassian Platinum Marketplace Partner and has been a global authority in the Atlassian ecosystem for more than 15 years. Appfire’s popular Artemis, Beecom, Bob Swift, Bolo, Botron, Feed Three, Innovalog and Wittified product brands comprise the largest portfolio of apps on the Atlassian Marketplace with 85+ purpose-built products and over 110,000 active installations worldwide. Learn more at www.appfire.com.

About TA Associates
TA is a leading global growth private equity firm. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – the firm invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $33.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $3 billion per year. The firm’s more than 100 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA can be found at www.ta.com.

About Silversmith Capital Partners
Founded in 2015, Silversmith Capital Partners is a Boston-based growth equity firm with $2.0 billion of capital under management. Silversmith’s mission is to partner with and support the best entrepreneurs in growing, profitable technology and healthcare companies. Representative investments include ActiveCampaign, Appfire, Centauri Health Solutions, DistroKid, Impact, LifeStance Health, MediQuant, Panalgo, Unily, Validity, and Webflow. The partners have over 75 years of collective investing experience and have served on the boards of numerous successful growth companies including ABILITY Network, Archer Technologies, Dealer.com, Liazon, Liberty Dialysis, MedHOK, Passport Health, SurveyMonkey, and Wrike. For more information about Silversmith, please visit www.silversmith.com.

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Norkart becomes a Ferd company

Ferd

“We feel both humble and proud that Ferd was chosen to be part of the further development of Norkart. It is a company that we have followed for a number of years, and we have invested significant resources in understanding the market and the company’s position and potential. We are impressed by the expertise, products and customer relationships that the company has built up, and not least by its people and unique culture”, explains Krisztina Horvath, Investment Professional at Ferd Capital.

“Norkart is a company that helps make society smarter, better and more efficient using digitalisation and data. It is therefore a good fit with Ferd’s vision of creating enduring value and leaving clear footprints, and also with our strategy of strengthening Ferd’s focus on technology”, adds Gustav Martinsen, also an Investment Professional at Ferd Capital.

Gustav Martinsen explains that Norkart started out in 1961 as a pioneer in digital map production and has since built up unique expertise in maps and municipal engineering technology, as well as a significant database of map and real estate information, which is the basis for its current products and services.

“The company now has Norway’s most complete data warehouse for geographical information. By digitalising municipalities and work processes between the private and municipal sectors, Norkart helps improve municipal services and community resource usage, and it also contributes to significant value creation by providing high-quality information on which to base decisions to a wide spectrum of private sector customers, primarily the real estate and construction industry, but also insurance companies needing to carry out risk assessments”, he explains.

Krisztina Horvath emphasises that Norkart’s markets are growing strongly as a result of digitalisation and the desire to make greater use of data, and that a number of Norkart’s competitors have consolidated their businesses in recent times.

“As the company’s largest shareholder, the Algerøy family took the initiative of finding a new owner last autumn. Its aim was to put Norkart in a position to lead the way in this consolidation and to strengthen the company’s market position”, she explains – and adds that there was much interest among Norwegian as well as international investors in owning the company.

“Ferd won out in the face of stiff competition following an exciting process with a real marathon finish’, explains Sven Henrik Andresen, another Ferd Capital Investment Professional and a member of the team responsible for the acquisition, which also included Are Dragesund and Rikke Reinemo, both of whom are Investment Professionals and Co-Heads of Ferd Capital.

Sven Henrik Andresen adds that Ferd is now looking forward to investing further in people, technology and the development of innovative solutions:

“Ferd will contribute financial muscle and commercial expertise in order to strengthen Norkart in its work to identify new avenues for growth, both organic and through acquisitions, when the opportunity arises”, he comments.

Norkart has 190 employees and reported revenue of NOK 338 million in 2020 following growth of nearly 13% on average for the last five years. Over this same period its underlying earnings have doubled. The company has offices in Sandvika, Lillehammer, Bergen, Trondheim and Kristiansand.

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Shiftboard secures credit facility from Espresso Capital

Seattle — March 9, 2021 — Espresso Capital announced today that it has provided a credit facility to Shiftboard, a leading provider of enterprise workforce scheduling software. Shiftboard will use the capital to further strategic investments across the business, including investment in sales and marketing and enhancing key product features, both of which will accelerate growth.

“This strategic partnership with Espresso Capital will enable us to enhance our product offering to serve our customers’ evolving needs,” says Shiftboard President and CEO Sterling Wilson. “Delivering intelligent, highly configurable workforce scheduling capabilities to our customers is our top priority. Industries with continuous operations, like manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and public services, require innovative solutions to complex employee scheduling challenges. This funding allows us to continue delivering the most comprehensive scheduling solutions available, further cementing our position as the leading provider of workforce scheduling technology for mission-critical industries.”

“Shiftboard has been at the forefront of the workforce scheduling market for some time,” says Espresso Executive Director Steven Michau. “They’ve expanded their addressable market with purpose-built technology designed to tackle complex workforce scheduling more effectively. It’s a great company with terrific momentum, and we’re looking forward to supporting this next leg of the company’s growth.”

“Closing this deal with Espresso further confirms our conviction that Shiftboard is well-positioned to answer the market’s call for intelligent workforce scheduling solutions,” says Erik Benson, managing director at Voyager Capital, one of Shiftboard’s existing investors. “We are aligned in our visions for growth and proud to continue supporting Shiftboard’s great product and outstanding team.”

Explaining why Shiftboard chose Espresso Capital, Benson noted, “They offered the most workable solution hands down. Besides offering Shiftboard the liquidity they needed, Espresso provided flexibility and didn’t bury the process in unnecessary administrative overhead. They’ve been great to work with.”

About Shiftboard, Inc.

Shiftboard is a global, leading provider of workforce scheduling solutions for organizations with continuous and mission-critical operations. Backed by Shiftboard’s innovative technologies, organizations can optimize their workforce scheduling practice to lower labor costs, improve efficiency, comply with labor regulations, and create a better employee experience. To date, Shiftboard has supported over 265 million scheduled shifts for thousands of customers, including Fortune 500 companies, providing the employment pipeline for over $9 billion in wages earned. For more information, please visit shiftboard.com.

About Voyager Capital

Since 1997, Voyager Capital has focused on first-round venture investments to help entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest and California create winning businesses. Built on the team’s extensive experience with startups and its exceptional network across the industry, the firm’s entrepreneur-centric approach accelerates the pace at which companies can build, execute, pivot and scale. Voyager has $520M under management investing in B2B software, cloud infrastructure, and applications driven by AI and machine learning. With offices in Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, BC, Voyager provides its portfolio the unwavering support and stage-appropriate connections needed to disrupt markets and create sustainable competitive advantage.

About Espresso Capital

Espresso empowers companies with innovative venture debt solutions. Since 2009, we’ve helped more than 280 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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Questel signs the acquisition of NovumIP, supported by Eurazeo Capital, IK Investment Partners, and RAISE Investissement

ik-investment-partners

Questel, a global IP software and tech-enabled services leader offering an integrated end-to-end platform of software and services across the innovation lifecycle, has announced today the signing of the acquisition of NovumIP, a global intellectual property (IP) technology group comprised of PAVIS and Novagraaf, two European leaders, active in patents annuities and trademarks renewals.

The acquisition will enhance Questel’s presence in the IP value chain through a comprehensive offering delivering a full set of solutions for its global customers and also fully reflects Questel’s ambition to continuously enhance its value proposition for such customers. Integrating patent annuities with Questel’s existing range of solutions, notably its intellectual asset management platform, will be a step-change for customers seeking one convenient location to manage all of their IP activities.

Eurazeo Capital, IK Investment Partners and RAISE Investissement will invest to finance the acquisition of NovumIP. Following the transaction, Eurazeo and the IK IX Fund will each invest an incremental amount of approximately €150 million and together will continue to hold a majority stake in Questel, while Paragon Fund III, an affiliate of NovumIP’s majority shareholder, will invest and become a financial investor of Questel.

Definitive financial information will be disclosed once the transaction is completed. The completion of the transaction is subject to the definitive approval of the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) as well as the Competition Authorities.

This acquisition demonstrates the commitment of Eurazeo Capital, IK Investment Partners and RAISE Investissement to support the Questel management team as it continues to pursue its expansion strategy into the IP management value chain. This strategy is supported by strong organic growth and a dynamic acquisition strategy that has helped in the past and should prove paramount in allowing  Questel to continue extending its geographic footprint in the future, whilst also providing a differentiated end-to-end set of solutions for its clients.

The NovumIP transaction follows the recent acquisitions by Questel of innosabi, an innovation SaaS company based in Germany, and doeLEGAL, a US software business active in enterprise legal management. These acquisitions represent a great milestone in the Questel journey.

For further questions, please contact:

Eurazeo
Pierre Bernardin
Head of Investor Relations
pbernardin@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

Virginie Christnacht
Head of Communications
vchristnacht@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 76 44

IK Investment Partners
France:
CTCom
Sibylle Descamps
sibylle.descamps@ct-com.com
Tel: +33 (0) 6 82 09 70 07

International:
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 7584 142 665

RAISE Investissement
Charlotte Doyen
charlotte.doyen@raise.com
Tel: +33 674791846

About Eurazeo
Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18.8 billion in assets under management, including nearly €13.3 billion from third parties, invested in over 430 companies. With its considerable private equity, venture capital, real estate, and private debt, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term. Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid. Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris. ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

About 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 €13 billion of capital and invested in over 145 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, please visit www.ikinvest.com

About RAISE Investissement
RAISE Investissement is a capital investment company set up by the RAISE group, founded by Clara Gaymard and Gonzague de Blignières. With €410 million of committed capital, the fund supports high growth medium-sized French companies that generate revenue of between €30 million and €500 million, by investing stakes of between €10 million and €50 million to help them grow. The RAISE group is built around a financing model that combines profitability with generosity as the investment teams (RAISE Investissement, RAISE REIM, RAISE Ventures, RAISE Impact and RAISE LAB) donate 50% of their earnings through the group profit sharing scheme to an internal endowment fund, RAISESHERPAS, which supports startups and helps them grow. This initiative, pioneering in France, creates a virtuous circle involving major corporations, institutional investors, medium-sized businesses and startups. For more information, visit www.raise.co/en/

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