Tag Archives: Software

Cinven agrees to acquire Archer

Cinven

Acquisition to create a global leader in governance, risk and compliance technology solutions

International private equity firm Cinven today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire Archer, a leading provider of integrated risk management solutions, from RSA Security, a portfolio company of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. and Symphony Technology Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Archer is a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance (‘GRC’) software globally. Founded in 2000, Archer has a 20+ year track record of providing integrated risk management (‘IRM’) and software solutions across the GRC landscape. Archer’s industry leading solutions support its diverse and growing customer base of large and mid-sized enterprises to improve their strategic decision-making and operational resilience. Headquartered in Kansas, US, Archer has significant international operations in Europe, the Middle East, and APAC, with European expansion a strategic priority.

Having spent significant time targeting investment opportunities in the global GRC subsector, Cinven’s TMT and Business Services sector teams in North America and Europe worked closely together to identify Archer as an attractive primary carve-out investment opportunity, given:

  • The GRC software market is highly attractive, rapidly growing and fragmented, with opportunity for further consolidation;
  • Archer has a leading position, with the opportunity to grow further through organic and inorganic expansion in both North America and Europe;
  • The quality and breadth of Archer’s product portfolio, as it serves more than half of the Fortune 500; and
  • Archer’s highly recurring revenue stream, with strong visibility and high customer retention.

Through this transaction, Cinven will support the long-term strategic growth of Archer’s integrated software platform as a standalone business following the initial carve-out from RSA Security. Drawing on its European and US platform and expertise, Cinven will work in close partnership with management to continue internationalising the business, including executing opportunities to expand Archer’s presence in key markets and verticals across both North America and Europe.

 

Julia Kahr, Partner and Head of North America at Cinven, commented:

“This transaction exemplifies Cinven’s ability to deploy our differentiated sector-country matrix to carve-out and invest behind high-growth businesses, and to position them for long-term success as standalone companies. This is a tremendous opportunity to leverage our sector expertise and established track record of investing in both North America and Europe to drive growth in a leading business with an unmatched product offering in a dynamic and growing market.”

 

Daniel Garin, Senior Principal at Cinven, added:

“The governance, risk and compliance market has been a significant focus area for Cinven globally for many years, and Archer continues to be a leading player in a highly fragmented market. Our investment in Archer builds on our strong track record of driving product innovation and geographic expansion that better supports customers around the world.”

 

Bill Diaz, Chief Executive Officer at Archer, commented:

“Cinven has a strong track record of driving value in software businesses and they are the ideal partner to support Archer’s next phase of growth. This partnership with Cinven will allow us to capitalize on significant growth opportunities both organically and through strategic acquisitions and further accelerate our leading position to the benefit of our customers, employees and all stakeholders.”

 

Upon the close of the transaction, Bill Diaz will continue to lead the business as Chief Executive Officer alongside the existing Archer leadership team.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

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Ardian acquires stake in Mimacom Flowable Group, a specialist in digitalization services, hyperautomation and low code software

Ardian

Together with the strong investor, the services, software and digitalization group aims to accelerate its growth strategy by accessing new markets and customers

Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, has agreed to invest in the Swiss Flowable Holding AG (“Mimacom Flowable Group”) alongside the management team, led by CEO Agim Emruli, to support the Company in implementing its growth strategy.

Headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, the Mimacom Flowable Group specializes in services, software development and digital transformation, cloud, and data consultancy for well-known blue-chip customers in the manufacturing, finance, insurance and life sciences sectors. With Flowable, the Company also offers its own low-code software platform for the automation and digitalization of business processes. The Group has more than 500 employees across 10 locations worldwide, including in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the US, and Poland.

Hyperautomation involves the systematic and holistic automation of a company’s entire business processes using a wide range of technologies and methods. One of Mimacom Flowable Group’s core products is the low-code software application, Flowable Work, that enables customers to create software applications to automate processes largely without software development knowledge using intuitive interfaces that feature drag-and-drop tools. This reduces the customer’s reliance on developer capacity and lowers costs for project planning, and staff training and development, while significantly shortening the time to market for new digital services and products.

The management team – led by Agim Emruli (Group CEO and CEO Flowable), Alain Sahli (CEO mimacom), Tim Weinmann (CRO mimacom) and Micha Kiener (Founder and CTO) – will continue to manage the company’s operations. With the support of Ardian, the Group plans to drive its growth through entering new markets, growing its customer base and targeted acquisitions of IT service and business process automation companies.

“The Mimacom Flowable Group combines the technology of a strong software platform for automation processes with the expertise of an experienced digitalization expert in the implementation of software projects. This offers our customers a comprehensive one-stop solution that can be integrated into any company environment. With Ardian, we have found a partner that understands our market and our business model and will support our international expansion. Together, we are excited to further accelerate our growth strategy.” Agim Emruli, Group CEO Mimacom Flowable Group

“Digital transformation continues to be one of the major challenges facing companies worldwide. The markets for digitization, hyperautomation and low-code platforms are generating double-digit annual growth rates, but at the same time they are still highly fragmented. As a leader in these areas, Mimacom Flowable Group has fast growth potential and will actively participate in the industry’s consolidation thanks to its excellent management team, compelling strategy and strong customer base. We look forward to working with the management team.” Marc Abadir, Managing Director Expansion, Ardian

List of participants

  • Ardian

    • Marc Abadir, Max Dolata, Nicolas Münzer, Marlon Sandvoss, Janine Paustian
    • Financial: Deloitte (E. Sachsalber / N. Nobereit)
    • Commercial / Technical: Singulier (K. Symes / R. Tomusk)
    • Legal Corporate M&A: Milbank (M. Bernhardt, S.-M. Resch) / Advestra (A. von Jeinsen / B. Kaufmann)
    • Legal Financing: Milbank (T. Ingenhoven, G. Merkel) / Advestra (A. von Jeinsen, A. Hammer)
    • Tax Structuring: Milbank (M. Schell) / Advestra (P. Riedweg / L. Riedweg)
    • Tax Due Diligence: EY (N. Hahn / R. Obrist / S. Niemeyer)
    • M&A and Debt Advisory: Lincoln International (Ø. Bjordal / C. Gilgenberg)

ABOUT MIMACOM-FLOWABLE GROUP

Headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, Mimacom Flowable Group specializes in software development and consulting projects in the field of digitization as well as cloud and data. With Flowable, it also offers its own low-code software platform for the automation of business processes. Today, the Group has more than 500 employees and advises well-known blue-chip customers in the fields of manufacturing, finance, insurance and life science on their digital transformation. The Group has 10 locations worldwide, including Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the USA, Poland and Singapore.
Founded in 2010, Flowable is a leading provider of Gartner-certified open-source intelligent business automation platforms used by many of the world’s leading companies including SAP, Dow Jones and many other Fortune 500 companies. This enables users to quickly set up and roll out efficiency-enhancing business applications, deliver an outstanding customer experience, and increase profitability.
Founded in 1999, mimacom advises companies on digital transformation and supports the creation of innovative software products. Together with Flowable, mimacom offers innovative solutions for Intelligent Automation (iBPM), Business Process Management (BPM) and Adaptive Case Management (ACM) that enable the digital transformation of business processes.

mimacomflowable.com

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $150bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,400 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our1,000+ employees, spread across 16 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility.
At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.

ardian.com

Press contact

Ardian

HEADLAND

ardian@headlandconsultancy.com

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EQT Growth to acquire GotPhoto, a leading vertical software platform helping photographers spend less time behind their desk and more time behind the lens

eqt
  • GotPhoto is dedicated to making photographers’ lives easier and more efficient. The Company provides an end-to-end workflow and e-commerce solution enabling its customers to digitalize key parts of their workflow, from photo management to payment and marketing automation, to order fulfilment, combining high functionality with a user-friendly platform
  • With over 4,000 customers in the US, UK and DACH, GotPhoto is already one of the largest players in the workflow and e-commerce solution market for volume photography, which is expected to grow 24% year-on-year through 2027
  • EQT Growth, in partnership with GotPhoto’s founders and management team, will support the Company’s continued organic and inorganic growth plans in its core markets and expansion into additional verticals and geographies, while further investing in the Company’s platform, product and commercial excellence

The EQT Growth fund (“EQT” or “EQT Growth”) has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake of GotPhoto Company (“GotPhoto” or “the Company”) from its founders, existing angel investors, and management team, who will remain minority owners. GotPhoto’s management team, including its CEO, Benedikt Greifenhofer, will continue to lead the Company, building on its strong track record of growth. As part of the transaction, EQT Growth will also invest additional primary capital into the business to further accelerate the company’s organic growth, including product & tech investments, as well as capitalize on attractive inorganic opportunities in the market.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, GotPhoto (and its German brand, fotograf.de) are dedicated to making the lives of photographers easier and more efficient, helping them spend less time behind their desk and more time behind the lens. By enabling photographers to digitalize key parts of their workflow, including photo management, photo editing, marketing automation, payment, and order fulfillment, GotPhoto effectively powers the daily operations of photographers, allowing them to save significant time and effort across photo shoots. The Company – which has over 4,000 customers, primarily SMBs and “solopreneur” photographers, across the US, UK and DACH – has managed to build a strong reputation as a leading vertical software solution within the people photography segment across its core markets, while being bootstrapped.

GotPhoto operates in a large but highly fragmented and antiquated market, in which digital services and products are not commonly used. As customers increasingly recognize the benefits of digital-native workflow management solutions like GotPhoto’s, it is expected that the underlying core market will grow 24% year-on-year through to 2027. Added to that, historically the volume photography market has proven to be more resilient than other parts of the wider photography market given people’s continued desire to purchase high quality photos as a way to “capture a moment” in time, like the first day of nursery or graduation day. GotPhoto is already well positioned in this market thanks to its seamless end-to-end functionality and user-friendly platform, which has allowed the Company to continue winning market share from legacy solutions, seeing consistent 50% year-over-year growth over the last five years.

EQT Growth will partner with GotPhoto’s founders and management team to further invest in the Company’s proprietary tech platform while it adds new product features. At the same time, as GotPhoto continues to build its commercial expertise it will benefit from access to EQT’s in-house digital team, EQT’s network of over 600 expert industrial advisors, and shared learnings across EQT’s global business, which is active in the Company’s core markets across in Europe and North America. With this support, GotPhoto plans to further expand its presence in areas such as sports and portrait photography as well as new attractive geographies, as it aims to strengthen its position as a leading global player in people photography. In addition to that, both EQT and GotPhoto believe there are a number of interesting M&A opportunities in the market, which should help complement the company’s organic strategy and accelerate the team’s ambitious growth plans.

Benedikt Greifenhofer, CEO of GotPhoto, remarked: “I’m very proud of everything that our team here at GotPhoto has achieved so far but, in many ways, this is just the beginning. Partnering with EQT Growth marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for GotPhoto. It will enable us to accelerate our mission of driving the digitization of the people photography market and allowing photographers to do what they do best: taking photos. We look forward to leveraging EQT’s digital expertise and sector experience, combined with their local presence across Europe, the US, and Asia and their broad network of industrial advisors, to successfully take this next step on our journey.”

GotPhoto Co-Founder and former CEO Markus Posselt, who will transition to GotPhoto’s Advisory Board, commented: “I’m very happy that with EQT Growth we have found an ideal partner for GotPhoto’s next stage of growth. Not only was EQT our preferred partner of choice given their global scale, strong value-add capabilities, and sub-sector expertise across software and prosumer technology investments, but also given the great cultural fit with the EQT team and their alignment of vision and values with ours.”

Dominik Stein, Partner in the EQT Growth Investment Advisory Team who will also join GotPhoto’s Advisory Board, concluded: “GotPhoto is a prime example of a technology company supported by long-term macro trends and led by an excellent management team that is ready to embark on the next phase of its growth journey. Benedikt and the entire GotPhoto team have accomplished so much, having to-date been entirely bootstrapped, and we are delighted to partner with them as we continue to build on GotPhoto’s market-leading position in the US, UK, and DACH.”

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals. It is expected to close in April 2023.

BCG, PwC, Willkie, Awelin, Netlight, and Aon served as advisors to EQT Growth.
Stout, KPMG, and Springer Kuss served as advisors to GotPhoto.

Contacts

Finn McLaughlan, +44 77 1534 1608, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT Growth
EQT Growth supports leading growth-stage technology companies as they take the next step to scale. The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. Based in five countries across Europe, the EQT Growth team has extensive investing and operating experience that allows it to support its portfolio companies however called upon.

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 113 billion in assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com

Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About GotPhoto
For the past decade, GotPhoto has been the leader in supporting high-volume photographers with its easy-to-use, comprehensive workflow and sales software. With a mission to make school, sports, and dance photographers more successful, whether you photograph 100 students or 100,000, GotPhoto can help you save time and increase your sales.

More info: https://www.gotphoto.com

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EQT Growth invests EUR 100 million in IntegrityNext, a sustainability software platform dedicated to making supply chains more transparent and compliant

eqt
  • Munich-based IntegrityNext empowers businesses to meet regulatory ESG requirements, manage ESG risks and improve supply chain sustainability.
  • The Company operates in a rapidly growing market that will likely benefit from the introduction of several major regulatory frameworks around climate protection and human rights, as ESG compliance and risk assessment becomes a “license to operate” issue
  • Its cloud-based software platform is used by more than 200 customers, including Siemens Gamesa, Infineon, SwissRe, Kion and Hilti. To date, the company monitors almost 1 million suppliers in more than 190 countries
  • EQT Growth will support the Company as its first institutional investor, leveraging its experience of investing throughout the tech value-chain, global network of sustainability and technology advisors, and in-house teams of digitization and sustainability experts

The EQT Growth fund (“EQT Growth”) has today announced a EUR 100 million investment in IntegrityNext (“the Company”), a sustainability software platform dedicated to enabling supply chain transparency and regulatory compliance. Co-founders Martin Berr-Sorokin (CEO), Simon Jaehnig (CRO) and Nick Heine (COO), who have grown the business whilst bootstrapped to date, will continue to lead the Company.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Munich, Germany, IntegrityNext has grown to serve more than 200 customers and monitoring almost one million suppliers, making it one of the leading environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) Certification software solutions in Europe. Its cloud-based platform enables enterprises – such as Siemens Gamesa, Infineon, SwissRe, Kion and Hilti – to assess risk and monitor a large portion of their supply chain for ESG metrics and compliance, allowing them to meet stakeholder demands and regulatory requirements. IntegrityNext has also partnered and integrated with leading enterprise software tools, including Celonis, Coupa and SAP, allowing it to offer supply chain assessments across numerous major industries.

The penetrated market in Europe for sustainability supply chain software solutions is expected to see strong growth over the next years. According to market estimates, the penetrated market is growing by more than 50 percent annually1 with an expected market volume of around EUR two billion in the medium term1,2. This development is driven by the introduction of several major regulatory frameworks across Europe. Most notably, these include the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (“LkSG”), the EU’s Green Deal and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”). At the same, increasing stakeholder pressure is also expected to drive market expansion, as ESG compliance and risk assessment becomes a “license to operate” issue for companies worldwide.

EQT Growth will partner with IntegrityNext on the next phase of its growth journey as it looks to further cement its leading position within Germany, while expanding its core product to serve upcoming European regulations. EQT Growth will bring its experience of investing throughout the tech value-chain, supported by EQT’s dedicated in-house teams of digital and sustainability experts and network of 600 advisors. Together, EQT Growth and IntegrityNext will further invest in the tech platform to support the acceleration of the product offering, and position it for long-term success.

Martin Berr-Sorokin, CEO and co-founder of IntegrityNext, said: “The critical importance of ESG is not a new concept to modern businesses. However, as a raft of regulatory frameworks – like Germany’s LkSG or the EU’s CSRD – begin to take effect, supply chain transparency and sustainability is evolving from a nice-to-have to a must-have. As more clients entrust us and we embark on our next stage of growth, we’re excited to be partnering with an experienced and hands-on investor with European roots and global scale like EQT Growth.”

Dominik Stein, Partner in the EQT Growth Investment advisory team who will join IntegrityNext’s Advisory Board, said: “IntegrityNext’s technology provides a streamlined and automated way for customers to easily monitor and certify their supply chain for ESG risks. Their cutting-edge product and large footprint in their home market of Germany positions them well to expand across Europe, as they have already built a significant proprietary supplier database. We look forward to working with Martin and the entire IntegrityNext team as they accelerate on their journey to making supply chains more transparent.”

 

Notes to Editors
1Source: EQT Growth, Internal Market Sizing
2Source: PWC Market-Report

Contact
Finn McLaughlan, +44 77 1534 1608, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334
About EQT Growth

EQT Growth supports leading growth-stage technology companies as they take the next step to scale. The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. Based in five countries across Europe, the EQT Growth team has extensive investing and operating experience that allows it to support its portfolio companies however called upon.

EQT Growth is an investment strategy of EQT, a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 113 billion in assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

 

About IntegrityNext – Boost Supply Chain Sustainability

IntegrityNext is a leading solution for supply chain sustainability management that empowers companies to improve supply chain sustainability and meet regulatory ESG requirements. The cloud-based platform enables companies to quickly and cost-effectively check their supplier base against sustainability-related regulations (e.g. the German Supply Chain Act), standards (e.g. international human and labour rights), and voluntary commitments (e.g. supply chain decarbonization/Net Zero). IntegrityNext helps its clients identify and manage ESG risks along the value chain, reducing reputational and financial risks and improving sustainability performance.

More info: www.integritynext.com

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AB further accelerates growth with Capital A as an investor

Capital-A

Investment company Capital A has acquired a majority stake in AB Software & Consultancy BV (“AB”). An ERP implementation partner and software developer in the manufacturing industry with 4 locations in the Netherlands and a strong focus on Industry 4.0.

AB’s growth ambitions together with Capital A

This investment in AB marks the start of a great collaboration in which we will support AB’s strong growth. Together, we aim to grow broadly within the sector and thus continue to help customers implement smart solutions. This is achieved through organic growth and by expanding the portfolio with additional services and products through buy and build.

A strong foundation for further development

“This collaboration with Capital A is a wonderful milestone for AB. We are extremely proud of AB as an organization,” said Aernout Bos and Nico Bijl, shareholders of AB. “AB is in great shape, thanks to a fantastic team of employees and many great and loyal customers. We are very much looking forward to the next chapter of AB as a company and are convinced that we have found the right partner in Capital A. The great thing about this transaction is that our board members, Roland ten Broeke and Ger Bos, are part of the shareholder base now too. They thus commit to AB for the long term through this transaction. As far as we are concerned, that is also very important for all AB stakeholders involved.” Roland ten Broeke and Ger Bos will continue to jointly carry out the day-to-day operations of AB as directors.

Leaders in digitizing the manufacturing industry

Quinten Birkhoff, Investment Director Capital A: “Recent technological developments offer many opportunities for industrial companies, especially in times when labor is a scarce commodity. AB is a specialist in helping these companies digitize their processes and has grown significantly due to its qualitative approach. We see many opportunities going forward to continue this growth and are therefore looking forward to supporting Roland and Ger and the almost eighty AB employees in this next phase.”

The future of AB and the Digital Factory

AB supports manufacturing companies with their digital transformation. Successful ERP implementations have been carried out at more than 500 production companies throughout various industrial subsectors. This makes AB the largest and most important Exact partner for manufacturing companies in the Netherlands. AB adds value through organizing and automating business processes in a smart way.

AB has also developed its own platform (under the name Digitalefabriek.nl). Customers can structure their own digital factory with the help of this platform. These solutions are marketed under the name of Digitalefabriek.nl, whereby links and integrations with almost all known ERP and other systems (such as CAD, MES, LIMS, etc.) can be realized.

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BASF Venture Capital GmbH invests in WayBeyond

Basf Ventures
  • WayBeyond is a digital agronomy solution combining crop sciences, data and AI to increase crop yield and quality
  • BASF Venture Capital invests in innovative IoT SaaS startup serving the controlled-environment agriculture industry

San Francisco, California, and Mannheim, Germany – March 13, 2023 – BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the corporate venture capital company of BASF SE, is investing in WayBeyond. Founded in New Zealand and now headquartered in the United States, WayBeyond is an Internet of things (IoT) and software as a service (SaaS) company that aims to improve crop yields, crop quality and grower profitability for low-to-mid tech controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) operations using data capture, farm management, and prediction tools.

CEA refers to a variety of systems that take a technology-based approach to farming, which includes glasshouses, greenhouses, net houses and tunnels. CEA growing operations typically produce tomatoes, berries, cucumbers and peppers. Growth in CEA, specifically low-to-mid tech CEA, is expected to increase steadily as the global population increases and as sustainability goals drive concerns of food shortages, encouraging growers to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. Major production markets include Mexico, Morocco and Spain, while CEA is also growing in other regions including Southeast Asia, both North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. Export markets include the United States and Europe.

WayBeyond is transforming the CEA industry with their data collection tools and AI-powered agronomy insights platform, FarmRoad. FarmRoad is an expert agronomist for every farm that gives growers farm- and crop-specific insights and recommendations to transform their growing decisions, improving yield, consistency and quality for more sustainable farming. WayBeyond also partners with seed producers to utilize the FarmRoad platform and FarmRoad’s crop-contextual AI for seed efficacy and quality transformation.

Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital GmbH, said: “The use of controlled-environment agriculture to grow fruits and vegetables continues to expand globally. As the next generation of growers enters the agriculture industry, we believe that their entry point will be CEA. WayBeyond is positioned to transform the way these CEA farmers grow the crops that will feed our growing population.”

“WayBeyond’s solutions not only help growers visualize their growing operations, but also provide growers with the agronomic recommendations that they need to optimize yield and yield quality,” added Neal Okarter, Investment Manager at BVC in Los Angeles, California.

“We are delighted to have BVC as an investor. As a strategic VC fund, they are in a special position to appreciate WayBeyond as a disruptive business model. We are perfectly aligned around the vision of a digitally empowered, sustainable agricultural industry that will bring vast benefits to the seed and crop protection providers. Together, we are focused on supporting farm operators and growers,” saids Darryn Keiller, Founder and CEO of WayBeyond.

 

About BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC)

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF Venture Capital GmbH also contributes to this corporate purpose. Founded in 2001, BASF Venture Capital invests in Europe, the United States, Canada, China, India, Brazil, and Israel. Our goal is to generate new growth potential for current and future business areas of BASF by investing in young companies and funds. The focus of our venture investments includes decarbonization, circular economy, agtech, new materials, digitization and new, disruptive business models. www.basf-vc.de.

About WayBeyond

Founded in New Zealand in 2016, WayBeyond creates technology for a better world. Its vision is to transform the agricultural industry so it can produce food sustainably for everyone on the planet.

WayBeyond’s expertise in data, artificial intelligence, and plant science is embodied in its future-focused farming solutions. FarmRoad – a farm management platform with powerful yield prediction and crop registration tools, and Folium – a climate monitoring system which harnesses readings from a network of wireless sensors to deliver detailed data across large growing areas. 

WayBeyond is a B2B business that advocates The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, while supporting the next generation of growers through community education programs. www.waybeyond.io.

 

Media contact BASF Venture Capital GmbH: Media contact WayBeyond:
Michaela Kemper Kathy Cunningham, Empire PR
michaela.kemper@basf.com kathy@empirepr.co.nz
+49 151 21053504 +6421 743 378

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Reward Gateway acquires Fond – Castic Capital

Castik Capital

Acquisition strengthens HR tech leader’s offering in global employee engagement.

Reward Gateway, a global HR technology and employee engagement company, today announced they have acquired Fond, a leading U.S. provider of employee recognition, rewards and perks. This follows Abry Partners’ and Castik Capital’s recent acquisitions of Reward Gateway, Xexec and MoveSpring.

Nick Burns, CEO of Reward Gateway said:
“With continued investment and support from Abry Partners and Castik Capital, we are thrilled to welcome Fond to Reward Gateway. We remain laser focused on advancing the employee experiences that drive engagement, wellbeing and performance. Fond is a welcome addition to our mission to make the world a better place to work.”

Taro Fukuyama, CEO of Fond, said:
“Fond has been on an incredible journey since 2012 when we first started helping companies build places where employees love to work. Joining Reward Gateway and Xexec under the Abry Partners and Castik Capital umbrella is an incredible opportunity to further advance our mission on a global scale.”

About Fond

Fond is a U.S. rewards and recognition platform that helps companies build a happier workforce with an easy-to-use, simplified solution. Our software offers a customizable employee recognition program with monetary and non-monetary rewards that’s fully scalable for your organization. Enterprise customers include Salesforce, Weight Watchers, and MAPCO.

About Reward Gateway

Reward Gateway helps companies engage, motivate and retain people – every day, all over the world. Partnering with over 4,000 companies in 23 countries, we empower more than 6.5 million employees to connect, appreciate and support one another to make the world a better place to work. Our unified employee engagement hub provides the best of recognition, reward, wellbeing, surveys, benefits and discounts that support talent acquisition, retention and values-driven growth. Clients include American Express, Unilever, Samsung, IBM, McDonald’s and more.

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Investcorp acquires NetRom Software

Investcorp

Investcorp Technology Partners (“ITP”), a leading global technology investor, today announced that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in NetRom Software (“NetRom” or “the Company”), a leading cloud-first, digital transformation and software engineering firm in the Benelux region. NetRom’s founders, management team and IceLake Capital, will continue to remain shareholders in the business alongside ITP. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands, NetRom provides business-critical software engineering solutions, development support and adjacent services to a portfolio of diversified and blue-chip customers in Western Europe and North America, including for example VodafoneZiggo, Transdev and LeasePlan.

NetRom’s long-term commitments to its customers and employees are key elements of its success, resulting in a strong track record of profitable growth, having more than doubled its revenues in the last five years.

ITP’s investment is expected to accelerate the Company’s ambitious growth plans. The Company currently has approximately 500 highly-qualified engineers across 4 offices in the Netherlands and Romania. ITP expects to continue to invest in strengthening its delivery platform, as well as further expanding existing and new service areas, industry verticals and geographies.

ITP has established a market-leading position of investing in lower mid-market technology companies with a specific focus on Software, Data / Analytics, Cyber Security, and Fintech. The investment in NetRom represents the third investment from ITP’s global fund, Investcorp Technology Partners V following its investments in HWG (Cybersecurity) and Zift Solutions (Software).

Georg Knoflach, Managing Director at ITP, stated, “Investcorp Technology Partners is pleased to be partnering with NetRom, a high-growth company offering mission critical products and services to the European software market. We have been impressed not only by the growth trajectory of the Company over the last decade, but also by the founders’ and management team’s incredible commitment to their customers, employees, and state-of-the-art facilities. We are looking forward to working with NetRom’s co-founders and the rest of the NetRom team on their next stage of critical growth.”

Bastiaan Hagenouw, partner at IceLake added: “After closely working with the NetRom management team for the past three-and-a-half years and achieving many milestones, IceLake is excited to continue the growth story together. With great trust in the management team and Investcorp, IceLake is proud and thrilled to continue the journey with NetRom to realise their ambitious goals.”

Han In’t Veld founder and CEO of NetRom, added: “For NetRom it’s a big accomplishment to be able to team up with the professionals at ITP. We see this as a logical and essential step in our journey towards becoming a significant player in the outsourced software product development space. The team at ITP have extensive experience and a long track record of supporting growth in businesses like ours. Together with ITP we will have the means to service our customers better, to increase market share and to conquer new geographical target areas.”

Mircea Negrila co-founder and CTO of NetRom added: “We are excited to be able to team-up with ITP which will allow us to move full speed ahead with the development of the NetRom campus and the NetRom educational programs. Creating state-of-the-art and inspiring, innovative working conditions is a key component of our talent acquisition strategy and our student academy programs have proven to be of critical value for the development of our organization. With the highly complementary skillset and experience that ITP put on the table, we created ideal conditions for further growth.”

Investcorp Technology Partners was advised by PhiDelphi Corporate Finance (M&A advisory), McDermott Will & Emery & Orange Clover (Legal), PwC (Commercial), KPMG (Financial & Tax), Willkie Farr & Gallagher (Legal – Financing), and Marlborough Partners (Debt Advisory). NetRom and IceLake Capital were advised by Houlihan Lokey (M&A Advisory), Allen & Overy (Legal), BCG (Commercial) and Deloitte (Financial & Tax).

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Transit tech company Via raises $110M at $3.5B valuation

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On-demand shuttle service and transit tech company Via has raised another $110 million, bringing the company’s total funding to around $1 billion. The fresh capital pushes Via’s valuation up to $3.5 billion at the same price per share as the company’s previous financing in November of 2021.

Via intends to use the funds to further its vision of being “able to provide every city in the world access to this end-to-end digital infrastructure, where they can plan, operate, analyze and continue to optimize their transit networks across every vertical in that transit network,” Daniel Ramot, Via’s CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch.

Via’s transit tech software helps public transportation agencies, municipalities and school districts optimize fixed bus routes, strategize placements of new bike lanes, plan paratransit and school bus services, and holistically incorporate private on-demand ridesharing services into a city’s entire transportation ecosystem. The company has already scaled to 600 communities and more than 35 countries.

As new mobility segments continue to emerge, threatening to cramp already congested streets and decimate already tight budgets, Ramot thinks the startup can do more.

Either through in-house development or mergers and acquisitions, Via wants to use the funds to add more products to its suite of tools. The company is still considering its options, but a few ideas Ramot and I tossed around the idea of expanding Via’s street map making software to include planning for traffic lights and speed bumps; adding parking and curb management software; managing fleets of electric vehicles and their many chargers; integrating micromobility planning; and incorporating autonomous vehicles into the mix.

Via is currently working with AV companies Motional and May Mobility to deploy autonomous ridesharing shuttles in Las Vegas, Nevada and Grand Rapids, Minnesota, respectively.

“The idea would be that you’d use our tools to plan the infrastructure in the most effective, safest, most efficient way, and then design the transit network that sits on top of that infrastructure,” Ramot told TechCrunch. “Potentially we’d be interested in control access, also. Right of way through traffic lights, for example — if you have a bus show up at a traffic light with 50 people on it, and then a car with one person, the traffic light’s not smart enough to give the bus right of way, but you would probably want it to do that. And those are just supply/demand-matching algorithms, which our system is very good at doing.”

Via’s fundraise comes at a time when startups are thirsty for fresh cash and investors are being picky. Ramot says Via is, in some ways, at the right place at the right time — transit agencies are still reeling from the effects of COVID-19 on ridership patterns, and they’re more amenable to being ushered into the 21st century with digital tools and datasets.

“In the past, it’s been very difficult to convince cities and transit agencies to adopt new technology, to transition to more dynamically routed or data-driven services,” said Ramot. “I won’t say it’s easy, but it’s become easier.”

Via has also been able to show investors that it’s got a sustainable business. The company said it ended 2022 with an annualized revenue run-rate surpassing $200 million, which is more than double since its previous $130 million financing round in November 2021.

That’s around the time Via confidentially filed to go public. The company has yet to move forward on that given the market volatility of the past year, but Ramot said Via is very much prepared to make its debut once the market opens up and if it makes sense to do so. While Via didn’t need to raise more funds to continue operating at its current clip, the funds also give the startup the “optionality” to go public when the timing is right, says Ramot.

The $110 million came from a combination of new and existing investors. 83North led the round, with participation from Exor N.V., Pitango, Janus Henderson, CF Private Equity, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, Riverpark Ventures and ION Crossover Partners.

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GreenSlate Announces Strategic Growth Investment from Francisco Partners

Franciso Partners

NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO – GreenSlate, a leading provider of payroll and production accounting solutions for the entertainment industry, today announced a strategic growth investment from Francisco Partners (“FP”), a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses. GreenSlate’s Founder and CEO, John Finn, will remain a significant equity holder. As part of the transaction, VSS Capital Partners (“VSS”), a private investment firm and an existing investor in the business, will make a new equity investment into the Company.

Established in 2004, GreenSlate has transformed the payroll and accounting process for content producers with its technology-driven solutions. With its comprehensive all-in-one platform, production accountants can more efficiently track production expenses and pay their crew. Today, GreenSlate manages some of the largest episodic budgets in production and supports some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, including Netflix, Paramount, Imagine Entertainment, Tyler Perry Studios, and many others. With its proven track record, scalable and modern solution, GreenSlate is elevating the standard of productivity and service for production finance professionals.

John Finn, GreenSlate Founder and CEO, said, “We are very excited to announce this new investment from Francisco Partners, which will allow us to accelerate our innovation and continue to focus on providing best-in-class service and state-of-the-art technology to our customers. Our approach to supporting production teams and production accountants specifically has been unique from the get-go. We’ve designed our platform from the ground up with digital workflows at the core and a mission to use technology to make every aspect of payroll and production accounting easier, more accurate, and more secure for every customer and the crews they employ. This new investment and partnership with FP will enable us to further advance that mission.”

“We are thrilled to partner with John and GreenSlate on the next phase of the Company’s growth journey. John and his team have done an exceptional job building a market-leading platform in the entertainment industry and their roadmap for future innovation is especially exciting,” said Ashley Evans, Partner at Francisco Partners.
“The GreenSlate platform is highly differentiated in its category and is uniquely positioned to help content producers streamline their financial workflows and better leverage their data. We are very excited to partner with GreenSlate to continue to extend its technology leadership in the industry,” added Kevin Wei, Principal at Francisco Partners.

Trent Hickman, Managing Director at VSS, said, “When we initially invested in GreenSlate in 2018, we were very excited by GreenSlate’s vision and capacity to drive real change in its market sector. Since then, GreenSlate has delivered tremendous growth, led by its digital-first platform and commitment to the highest levels of customer service. With FP’s partnership, we are delighted to continue to support the Company through its next stage of growth.”

The transaction closed in February 2023. Financial terms are not being disclosed.

American Discovery Capital served as financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal advisor to GreenSlate. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal adviser to Francisco Partners.

About GreenSlate

GreenSlate is a provider of technology-enabled payroll and accounting solutions for the entertainment industry. Leveraging nearly two decades of experience in the entertainment industry, GreenSlate advances the business of content production by seamlessly integrating people, processes, and technology to meet the essential business needs of content producers.
Simplifying what shouldn’t be complicated, GreenSlate builds the industry’s most intuitive production accounting software, paperless payroll processing, and digital workflow solutions, with more innovative applications and products on the way. From budget to delivery, GreenSlate’s technology, tax management, and benefits services enable production teams to focus more on what they do best – creating inspiring content. For more information on GreenSlate, please visit www.gslate.com.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 20 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 VSS

VSS is a private investment firm that invests in the healthcare, education, and business services industries. Headquartered in New York, VSS provides capital for growth financing, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, and buyouts to lower middle market companies and management teams with the goal of building companies organically as well as through a focused add-on acquisition program. VSS makes privately negotiated investments across the capital structure and invests in situations requiring control or non-control equity, mezzanine securities, and structured equity securities. VSS has over three decades of experience, made investments in 95 portfolio companies, with over 400 add-on acquisitions, and manages $4 billion in aggregate committed capital across 8 funds. For more information, please visit: www.vss.com.

Media Contacts

GreenSlate
Courtney Kulkarni
courtney.kulkarni@gslate.com

Francisco Partners
Whit Clay / Sarah Braunstein
wclay@sloanepr.com / sbraunstein@sloanepr.com

VSS
Katrin Lieberwirth
klieberwirth@stantonprm.com

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