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Card Scanning Solutions Lands New Equity Investment

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Card Scanning Solutions Lands New Equity Investment

Insight Venture Partners leads capital infusion into identity software provider

CULVER CITY, CA (06/19/2013) - Card Scanning Solutions (CSSN), the leading provider of Identity Solutions software for reading data from driver licenses, medical cards, and other official documents, announced today that Insight Venture Partners, Red Oak Growth Partners, and Egis Capital Partners have made an investment in the Company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This capital infusion will help CSSN to accelerate its innovative product-development efforts and more rapidly expand our reach in the market,” said Yossi Zekri, CEO of CSSN. “Our investors’ deep experience in software and innovative technology makes them great partners for us as we launch our new offerings for mobile devices such as IDScan® GO, MedicScan®GO, and cloud-based image processing.”

Earlier this year, the company has launched a new version of its advanced Snapshell® image capture appliance, Snapshell® R2 and Snapshell® Passport. In combination with CSSN’s industry-leading software, Snapshell quickly and accurately processes data from almost any form of official identification card or document.

CSSN supports customers in a variety of vertical industries including healthcare, financial services, facilities/property management and education. The company works closely with its industry partners to integrate its technology into their application workflow, ensuring a seamless experience for the customers’ registration and validation processes.

“We are excited to partner with an outstanding founding team at CSSN that has consistently delivered a profitable and growing business over its history,” said Larry Handen, Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners. “Their efforts over the last decade have built a market-leading company leveraging a unique technology solution that combines image processing, OCR, and an extensive image library that can be applied to many applications.”

“The need for real-time identity-validation, fraud-prevention and customer-registration applications is growing rapidly and is a catalyst for CSSN,” said Richard Erickson, Managing Director at Red Oak Growth Partners and Chairman of CSSN’s Board of Directors. “We were extremely impressed at the depth and quality of CSSN’s longstanding relationships with market-leading software companies in core vertical industries and look forward to helping them further expand.”

Zekri, Handen, and Erickson will join CSSN’s Board of Directors along with Conor Mullett from Red Oak, Dany Hatzav of CSSN , Dan May of Insight, and Robert Chefitz of Egis.

Goodwin Proctor LLP and Deloitte LLP advised the Investors in the transaction. CSSN was advised by Peter A. Sokoloff & Co. and Bradley Consulting Group. Silicon Valley Bank provided a senior credit facility to support the investment.

About Card Scanning Solutions

Card Scanning Solutions has been a leading developer of image processing and OCR technologies since 1999. The company’s innovative solutions process data from drivers licenses, ID’s, business cards, passports, checks, and medical cards. Card Scanning Solutions offers valuable solutions that allow data to be accurately read, captured, and exported in real time to 3^rd party applications and services. CSSN’s Identity solution software improves security, increases productivity, and results in greater efficiency and cost savings for a wide variety of industries including Medical, Financial, Hospitality, Security and more. For more information, please visit www.card-reader.com

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading global private equity and venture capital firm investing in software, eCommerce, internet, and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $7.6 billion and made more than 190 investments worldwide. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. Insight provides them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information on Insight and all of its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com

About Red Oak Growth Partners

Red Oak Growth Partners is a technology focused, lower middle-market private equity firm that invests in profitable, growing Business Services and Software Companies in North America. Red Oak’s goal is to build relationships with management and entrepreneurs that can leverage our 40 years of investment, operating, and business development experience to accelerate growth. Red Oak takes an active, hands on approach in partnering with our Companies to create value and market leaders. For more information on Red Oak Growth Partners, visit www.redoakgp.com

About Egis Capital

Egis Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm focused on middle-market buyout and late-stage growth investments in the Security & Homeland Defense sector. Egis targets companies primarily located in North America with enterprise values ranging between $30 million and $200 million that require a total investment between $10 million and $40 million. Egis Capital Partners was founded by Robert Chefitz in 2007 to capitalize on over 30 years of combined industry experience across private equity, investment banking, and operations. For more information on Egis Capital Partners, visit www.egiscapitalpartners.com

BrightEdge Secures $42.8 Million Invesment to Build Essential Content marketing Platform for Modern Business

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

BrightEdge Secures $42.8 Million Invesment to Build Essential Content marketing Platform for Modern Business

110-Percent Renewal Rate, 300-Percent Brand Growth in Past 12 Months Position BrightEdge to Become Industry Standard in New World of Marketing

SAN MATEO, CA – June 11, 2013 – BrightEdge today announced that it has closed $42.8 million in Series D funding, led by Insight Venture Partners. Insight Venture Partners joins existing investors Intel Capital, Battery Ventures, Altos Ventures and Illuminate Ventures. The investment serves as a strong endorsement of the company’s vision to create a new standard for how modern businesses of every size and industry understand and measure the value of their content marketing strategies across all digital channels.

In the new world of marketing, where brands are publishers, consumers are influencers and content is created, shared and accessed at quantum scale, marketers must think like scientists more than artists. And while many vendors focus on back-office systems to automate marketing workflows and process, marketers still fly blind when it comes to actually measuring and understanding the value of their content for all of the sites on which they publish.

BrightEdge’s S3 platform harnesses big data analytics so businesses understand the revenue impact of earned content, attract customers from the billions of searches happening each day and understand impact created by web sites, search engines and social networks in a measurable, predictable way. It processes massive volumes of data and systematically analyzes content across every channel in real-time, stitching together individual interactions to allow businesses to understand the value of their content in terms of traffic, engagement and revenue. Its customized dashboards, targeted recommendations and strategic analysis empower marketers to focus their efforts and implement initiatives that drive maximum business impact.

"Marketing today doesn’t have a go-to platform like IT, finance and HR. That’s changing and BrightEdge is front and center as a company with a massive value proposition,” said Brad Twohig, principal, Insight Venture Partners. “BrightEdge has the opportunity to become marketing’s must-have platform and we are excited to invest in the company and their success. This is a transformative opportunity within a $12 billion interactive marketing arena that doesn’t yet have a standard.”

BrightEdge has experienced tremendous growth since its inception in 2007. Major milestones over the past 12 months include:

Continued, Rapid Customer Growth: The company has added more than 300 direct clients in the past 12 months, including SuccessFactors, SurveyMonkey and Choice Hotels International, Inc. Today, more than 6,000 brands and 600 direct clients leverage BrightEdge, including Microsoft, 3M, Nike, Marriott and Performics.

An Enterprise Standard: Since commencing commercial operations in 2010, the company has grown to dominate its category, serving 9 of the top 10 largest hotel groups, 7 of the top 10 online retailers and 7 of the top 10 largest technology companies.

Record-Breaking Business Performance: BrightEdge has seen a 110-percent customer renewal rate and 300-percent brand growth over the past 12 months, best-in-class across SaaS vendors in both public and private arenas. In addition the company saw a 200-percent return on capital in revenue run rate in FY2012.

Patented Technology: BrightEdge has defined the market with dozens of innovations, included issued patents for Share of Voice to help marketers understand true market share and beat their competitors online, and a Reverse Index which helps marketers understand their web wide performance. An additional 26 innovations have patents pending.

“Marketing has never been more data-driven or outcome-focused, and now, strategies backed by science and measurement are modern business essentials. We’ve built the first platform to bring sophisticated analysis to the consumer-facing part of marketing across all digital channels – and major global brands are already realizing transformative results in traffic, engagement and revenue,” said Jim Yu, founder and CEO, BrightEdge. “Our massive growth, customer impact and this newest round of financing validate that we're well on our way to disrupting a $12 billion market and creating a new standard for marketers and modern businesses worldwide.”

About BrightEdge

BrightEdge is the essential content marketing platform for modern business. It transforms online content into tangible business results such as traffic, revenue and engagement. BrightEdge’s S3 platform is powered by a sophisticated big data analysis engine and is the only company capable of web-wide, real-time measurement of content engagement across all digital channels, including search, social and mobile. BrightEdge 600+ customers include global brands such as 3M, Microsoft, Netflix and Nike. The company is based in San Mateo, CA with offices in New York City and London.

Visit our website: www.brightedge.com

Read our blog: www.brightedge.com/blog

Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/seoplatform

Insight Venture Partners Closes New Fund Totaling $2.57 Billion

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Insight Venture Partners Closes New Fund Totaling $2.57 Billion

NEW YORK, NY, May 29, 2013 – Today, Insight Venture Partners announced the closing of Insight Venture Partners VIII, a $2.57 billion private equity fund. Like its predecessor funds, Insight Venture Partners will invest Fund VIII in global software, e-Commerce, internet and data-services businesses. The firm will deploy capital in growth stage and more mature companies, as minority or control transactions. The new fund will continue to execute on Insight’s strategy of helping portfolio companies achieve their long-term operational and financial goals.

“We appreciate the commitment of our investors who continue to support our strategy of focusing on software and technology companies that are scaling and maturing,” said Jeff Horing, co-founder and managing director at Insight Venture Partners. “By combining financial flexibility with our deep industry knowledge and growth-stage operations expertise, Insight plays a unique role in helping unlock value for management teams, employees, customers and investors.”

Commitments from existing investors contributed a majority of the capital in the new fund. The total capital committed to Insight since inception in 1995 is now over $7.6 billion. Insight will continue to seek transaction opportunities worldwide; Fund VIII has the flexibility to invest any amount up to approximately $300 million of equity per transaction.

Insight’s predecessor fund, which closed in 2010, has invested in more than 35 companies, including Airwatch and New Relic (infrastructure software); Kinnser Software and Mimecast Services (SaaS businesses); Despegar and Fanatics (eCommerce); Indiegogo, and Udemy (consumer internet) and Drillinginfo (SaaS data services). Prior fund portfolio investments include ExactTarget (NYSE: ET) and Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK) which had their initial public offerings in 2012, Trivago, which earlier this year was acquired by Expedia Inc., Flipboard, Kony Solutions, OverDrive and Twitter. More recently, Yahoo! announced a deal to acquire another portfolio company, Tumblr.

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading global private equity and venture capital firm investing in software, eCommerce, internet and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $7.6 billion and made more than 190 investments worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. We provide them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information on Insight and all of its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com

Press Contact

David Satterfield

Executive Vice President

GF Bunting PR

(408) 802-6767

David@gfbunting.com

AirWatch, Global Enterprise Mobile Management Leader, Secures $200 Million Series A Investment

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

AirWatch, Global Enterprise Mobile Management Leader, Secures $200 Million Series A Investment

BARCELONA, Spain – Feb. 24, 2012 – AirWatch®, the global leader and innovator in mobile device security and Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) technology, today announced at Mobile World Congress the closing of a $200 million Series A investment. The equity infusion, led by Insight Venture Partners, will be used to fund strategic acquisitions, accelerate global growth and drive innovation and adoption of AirWatch's content collaboration solution, Secure Content Locker™. The AirWatch platform, featuring industry-leading mobile device management and application management, also incorporates the most secure content management solution. These solutions can be used stand-alone for unique BYOD requirements or as a comprehensive, highly scalable enterprise-grade mobility platform.

AirWatch is rapidly expanding with more than 500 new clients per month, continually delivering first-to-market mobile innovations and product capabilities. AirWatch manages the largest mobile management deployments for the top three global Fortune companies, the top four global energy companies, six of the top 10 global airlines, six of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies, seven of the top 10 global consumer product companies, five of the top 10 global luxury goods companies, two of the top three global hotel groups, nine of the top 10 U.S. retailers, and three of the top five U.S. medical device companies.

“With an enhanced balance sheet and greater financial strength providing much more stability than our competition, this investment is a significant step to reinforce our solutions during a critical market pivot,” said John Marshall, president and CEO, AirWatch.

“We’ve had outstanding success building the industry leader with no outside capital,” added Alan Dabbiere, chairman, AirWatch. “Insight recognized our achievements to date and is excited to collaborate to simplify enterprise mobility. This funding will allow us to continue to build the most flexible and innovative enterprise mobile management solutions in the world.”

AirWatch’s mobile device security and EMM technology ensures enterprise mobility deployments are secure and that corporate information is protected. AirWatch’s advanced features and integrated technology partnerships provide end-to-end security that extends to the user, device, application, content, data and network levels.

John Marshall and Alan Dabbiere teamed up to create AirWatch, which was founded in 2003. Dabbiere also founded Manhattan Associates, the leading supply-chain logistics software provider, which he shepherded through an initial public offering in 1998.

“We’re excited to partner with John, Alan and the terrific AirWatch team,” said Jeff Horing, managing director, Insight Venture Partners. “The mobile enterprise market is experiencing explosive growth, and AirWatch has emerged as the market’s leading device management solution, without raising any outside capital. As the first institutional investors we hope to support AirWatch’s strong growth trajectory and further strengthen the company’s leadership in the field.’’

2012 Analyst Recognition and Awards

Featured as Leader in Gartner’s 2012 Magic Quadrant for MDM
Forrester - Innovator in Market Overviews, Q1, 2012
Forrester - Cloud-Hosted Mobile Device Management Solutions and Managed Services
Forrester - On-Premise Mobile Device Management Solutions
The Radicati Group - Named TOP PLAYER in 2012 Mobile Device Management - Market Quadrant
Enterprise Mobility Forum - Best Mobile Strategy
American Telecom Professionals Technology/Service Provider of the Year
TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) - Impact SSA ISV Award
TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) - Georgia Technology Summit Top 10 Innovation Award
TMCnet - Cloud Computing Excellence Award
Federal Computer Week - Hot Company in Federal Space
Metro Atlanta Chamber - Phoenix Award Emerging Company of the Year
Info Tech - Identified as a CHAMPION in 2011 Mobile Device Management Vendor Landscape
Nemertes - PilotHouse MDM Award
Frost & Sullivan - North American Customer Value Enhancement Award

About AirWatch

AirWatch is the global leader and innovator in mobile security and enterprise mobile management with 6,000 customers and 1,200 global associates. The largest customer base, combined with the largest research and development team in the industry, allows AirWatch to provide the broadest functionality at the lowest cost. www.air-watch.com

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading venture capital and private equity firm investing in eCommerce, Internet, on-premise and SaaS-based software and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $5 billion and made more than 150 investments worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. We provide founders with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information, visit www.insightpartners.com and follow us on Twitter at @insightpartners

AirWatch Contact

Victor Cooper

Global Public Relations Manager

victorcooper@air-watch.com

+1.404.819.3275

Insight Venture Partners Contact:

Dave Satterfield

GFBunting PR

david@gfbunting.com

Mobile: (408) 802 6767

On the Heels of a Record Breaking Year, New Relic Raises $80 Million

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

On the Heels of a Record Breaking Year, New Relic Raises $80 Million

Mezzanine Financing Will Open Expansion to Mobile Application Management and Continue Strong Momentum in Enterprise, Cloud Markets

SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 5, 2013 -- New Relic Inc., the SaaS-based application management provider, today announced that it has raised $80 million in mezzanine financing to help the company expand into the mobile market, extend operations to Europe and increase its enterprise footprint, all in preparation for a future public offering. Insight Venture Partners led the financing, which also included a major investment from accounts managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Other participants included Dragoneer Investment Group LLC, Passport Ventures LLC, and the company’s existing investors Allen & Company, Benchmark Capital, Trinity Ventures and Tenaya Capital. The round comes on the heels of another record-breaking year in which New Relic nearly tripled its revenue growth and more than doubled its customer base.

New Relic's software as a service provides real-time visibility into the health of applications to create a more reliable customer experience, whether the applications originate in the cloud, web or mobile environments. Considered the premier SaaS-based application management platform for today’s web applications, New Relic has been adopted by thousands of companies worldwide, including significant deployments with ESPN, Nike and Sony. Additionally, collaboration, ecommerce, gaming and social media businesses such as Comcast, E*Trade, eHarmony, GitHub, Groupon, Mashable, MercadoLibre and Zumba, are using New Relic to significantly lower the costs of maintaining and optimizing business-critical software applications.

Company Growth Metrics

Overall Achievements

- 18 quarters of consecutive growth

- Industry’s largest installed base for an application performance management solution, achieving 35,000 active customer accounts in five years

- 1 million app instances data is sent to New Relic at any given time

- Largest repository of application data known to exist

2012 Wins

- Nearly tripled revenue growth year over year

- Doubled its customer base, and added over 1,200 paying customers in 4Q2012

- Portland office relocated to more spacious building

Supporting Quotes

“Software is running the world, and this is an exciting time to be in the business of making that software run fast. Today we see a huge opportunity to improve the speed, reliability, and effectiveness of software running on mobile devices. There are millions of apps out there for mobile devices – gaming, social and business apps – that have no tools in place for improving the user experience, yet billions of dollars are being poured into mobile app development. In 2013, you’ll see New Relic offer analytics capabilities for native mobile apps that elegantly fill this gap and combine with our proven web app management tool to create the most comprehensive application solution out there.”

- Lew Cirne, founder and CEO, New Relic

“With the profusion of mobile devices, social media and web applications in all aspects of everyday life, New Relic’s monitoring and performance management software plays a pivotal role in ensuring a quality user experience. Customer usage expectations are high, and New Relic’s solutions help companies underwrite this experience. We look forward to partnering with management to scale New Relic to be the preeminent provider of performance management solutions to the world’s largest and fastest-growing companies.”

– Jeff Horing, managing director and co-founder, Insight Venture Partners

Online Resources

Learn more at our blog post
Learn more how the company has grown in our infographic
To sign up for more info about the upcoming mobile launch, visit newrelic.com/mobile

About New Relic

New Relic is on a mission to create a better web and mobile experience for everyone by making apps faster and more reliable. Analyzing 80 billion metrics each day, New Relic provides application developers critical insights about performance issues that are affecting their business’ bottom line. Serving more than 35,000 customers in 36 countries, New Relic’s SaaS solution has the largest customer base in the industry. More information can be found at www.newrelic.com.

Social Media Links

Facebook

Twitter, #newrelic

YouTube

Media Contacts

Justin Dorff

SHIFT Communications

415.591.8412

jdorff@shiftcomm.com

Stephanie Xavier

Sr. Communications Manager

New Relic

415-602-4035

stephaniex@newrelic.com

Video Content Creation Platform Company, Tongal, Receives $15M from Insight Venture Partners

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Video Content Creation Platform Company, Tongal, Receives $15M from Insight Venture Partners

Innovative social network for content creation to use Series B funding to build out its talented creative community and support existing strong revenue growth

Los Angeles, CA – January 14, 2013: Tongal, the leading social platform for innovative marketers to produce creative video content, today announced a $15 million Series B investment from global private equity firm, Insight Venture Partners. Tongal plans to use the funding to accelerate the build-out of its premiere global creative community and to support plans for rapid expansion.

Tongal was founded in 2008 by Rob Salvatore, James DeJulio and Mark Burrell, who believed that breakthrough ideas can come from anywhere, that global creative talent was being under-utilized, and that brand marketers could benefit from accessing the imagination and skills of this geographically diverse talent pool, specifically in the high-growth area of video content.

Salvatore, DeJulio and team turned the creative development process on its head by making it social, and opening the door to contributors from all walks of life. At the heart of the business are proprietary, multi-phased collaborative and competitive challenges managed by the company and its technology. Tongal’s brand sponsors provide campaign objectives and a cash prize pool, then release the challenge to Tongal’s community, the brand’s social following and the world at large.

The Tongal platform manages a fun and iterative ideation, storyboard, and production process that yields quality video content at lower cost and faster speed than current methods of content development. Challenges begin with an “Idea” round. Once a sponsor selects the best Idea submissions, the Ideas themselves then move forward in the competition and more-technically skilled filmmakers bring the winning Ideas to life. Branded videos created via Tongal can be conceived of, produced, and ready to be deployed in less than eight weeks.

“Our brand customers are thrilled with the quality and in-market performance of videos being produced on Tongal, as well the unexpected and fresh ideas that emerge,” said James DeJulio, company President. “Tongal enables businesses to expand beyond the thinking within the four walls of their organizations, and provides the opportunity to unlock and access the world’s creativity — this is very powerful.”

Demand for Tongal’s product is being driven by the growing need for online video content. In 2012, Tongal experienced strong growth as marketers continued to shift online budgets towards more video content – revenue grew by more than 400%, with many brand customers running multiple campaigns on Tongal’s platform. Tongal’s list of customers includes six of the world’s Top 10 most valuable brands. They have used Tongal-produced video across social media, mobile, broadband, and on television.

“Tongal’s customers told us how the company’s robust community, coupled with Tongal’s delivery platform, offers brand marketers a unique opportunity to satisfy their need for high-quality, innovative, and inspiring content,” said Jeff Lieberman, managing director at Insight Venture Partners. “All this occurs at lower cost and with faster time to market – something truly differentiated among marketing solutions. We are excited to work with Rob, James, and the team as they scale Tongal.”

Rob Salvatore, Tongal CEO, added, “2013 is going to be an exciting year for Tongal. Given Insight’s past successes and shared vision, Jeff and team are the perfect partners to help us realize the potential of Tongal. With the capital infusion, we will accelerate our sales and marketing to serve more brands. We also will build more community tools to ensure we have a committed group of global professionals able to capitalize on their talent, develop professionally, and continue to earn a living doing what they love.“

At the time of this announcement, Tongal Community members had earned more than $3 million dollars via the website.

About TONGAL

Tongal is a social content development platform that helps global businesses connect with global creativity. Tongal's unique Content Evolution process opens the creative door to loyal customers, fans, even employees -- creating immediate, relevant content by tapping their (frequently, great) ideas, then pushing the very best of these forward to the talented folks who can translate the vision into living color. www.tongal.com

Tongal Social Media Resources:

Facebook: Tongal
Twitter: @tongal
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/user2079750
Blog: The Tongal Blongal

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading venture capital and private equity firm investing in eCommerce, Internet, on-premise and SaaS-based software and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $5 billion and made more than 150 investments worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. We provide founders with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information, visit www.insightpartners.com and follow us on Twitter at @insightpartners .

Media Contacts
Dave Satterfield
GF Bunting PR
(o): 408 247 6767
(c): 408 802 6767
david@gfbunting.com

SR Labs Secures $53 Million Investment from Insight Venture Partners

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

SR Labs Secures $53 Million Investment from Insight Venture Partners

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SR Labs, a leading provider of high-performance electronic-trading solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced the completion of a $53 million investment from Insight Venture Partners.

SR Labs plans to use the capital to expand its sales and marketing operations, to accelerate its growth outside of North America, and to continue to fund product innovation. To further those goals, SR Labs has opened a new development center in Pune, India, to support its customers in Asia Pacific and Europe, where systematic trading is growing rapidly.

Srinivasan Ramiah , founder and CEO of SR Labs, said, "We are excited to have Insight as a partner. As electronic trading is expanding beyond North America, we intend to expand our operations globally. We will be leveraging Insight's expertise in international markets to set up operations to better serve our customers in Europe, Asia and Latin America."

Founded in 2007, SR Labs has grown rapidly, with 100% year-on-year profitable growth since inception. SR Labs provides technology that enables the data-gathering and execution of electronic trading. Its low-latency market data feed handlers and high-speed exchange gateways work across multiple asset classes. SR Labs' clients include top investment banks, hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and providers of trading technology software. The company has an impressive list of customers, including industry leaders such as Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

"We are excited about the high caliber of SR Labs' products and the company's dedication to serving its customers. Our investment will enable SR Labs to continue to deliver best-in-class technology and support," said Deven Parekh , managing director at Insight Venture Partners. "We are especially encouraged that leading financial institutions increasingly are using cost-effective third-party technology, such as SR Labs, in their trading operations. We believe this will continue to be a strong source of growth in this market."

As part of the transaction, Deven Parekh , managing director, and Martin Angert , principal, from Insight Venture Partners will join the board of directors.

About SR Labs
Street Response Laboratories (SR Labs) provides low-latency market data and exchange-connectivity solutions for the financial industry. SR Labs market data solution provides extensive feed coverage including all major North American, European and Asian Exchanges. Our flagship products, SMDS and SREX, currently are used by top-tier investment banks and hedge funds. To find out more, please visit www.srtechlabs.com.

About Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a leading venture capital and private equity firm investing in on-premise and SaaS-based software, eCommerce, internet and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $5 billion and made more than 150 investments worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. We provide founders with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information, visit insightpartners.com

Pluralsight Receives $27.5 Million in Funding From Insight Venture Partners

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Pluralsight Receives $27.5 Million in Funding From Insight Venture Partners

Online educator for hardcore developers to continue rapid growth

LAYTON, UTAH – Jan. 3, 2013 -- Pluralsight, a leader in online education for software developers, announced today that is has received a $27.5 million investment from Insight Venture Partners to accelerate its already rapid expansion.

The financing marks the first outside investment in Pluralsight, which was founded in 2004 as a classroom-based training company, designed for developers by developers. In 2008, Pluralsight began a major pivot to move its training business completely online, with the goal of providing the same professional content through a flexible subscription model priced for worldwide scale. Today, Pluralsight has more than 200,000 users in more than 100 countries and offers more than 400 online courses, with 15-20 new releases per month. Pluralsight offers anytime, anywhere access to its entire library for as little as $29 a month.

“This investment is a big leap in Pluralsight’s journey,’’ said Aaron Skonnard, CEO and co-founder of Pluralsight. “So far, we have had great success in building a profitable and sustainable business with our own funds. With this deal, we get both the financial and intellectual capital of Insight Venture Partners to really accelerate our growth at what we believe to be a critical time in the market.’’

Skonnard said the investment will lead to more quality content for customers. Pluralsight intends to use the funds to speed up the expansion of its course library to provide more breadth and depth in topic areas of interest to software developers around the world. Already, he said, none of its peers can match the quality, timeliness and relevance of Pluralsight’s course library.

Pluralsight has attracted a world-renowned team of authors who deliver the most advanced and effective educational experiences available today. These authors are experts in their respective fields – they also write popular books, articles, and blogs, and speak at leading industry events around the world. These experts choose to work with Pluralsight because they can derive attractive royalty streams from their published courses that far outperform the traditional book industry today.

“It’s no secret that online education is becoming a mainstream learning and training method,’’ said Ryan Hinkle, a partner at Insight Venture Partners. “Pluralsight has carved a big niche by appealing to software developers, an audience ideally suited to online learning. We believe the opportunities for developers will continue to expand exponentially and Pluralsight is positioned to take advantage of that. Insight sees great prospects for this business.’’

Insight will have two board seats on Pluralsight’s seven-member board of directors.

About Pluralsight

Pluralsight is a global leader in high-quality online training for hardcore developers. The revolutionary Pluralsight training library provides developers everywhere with instant access to a rich collection of online training courses delivered by world-renowned industry authorities. Pluralsight provides flexible and cost-effective subscription plans for individuals and businesses starting from as little as $29 a month. See what you can learn at pluralsight.com and join the @pluralsight community on Twitter.

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading venture capital and private equity firm investing in on-premise and SaaS-based software, eCommerce, internet and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $5 billion and made more than 150 investments worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. We provide founders with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information, visit insightpartners.com

Udemy Receives $12 Million in Series B Financies Led By Insight Venture Partners

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Udemy Receives $12 Million in Series B Financies Led By Insight Venture Partners

Online Learning Marketplace to Significantly Expand Variety and Depth of Content Catalog, Hires Dennis Yang as President & COO

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Udemy, the leading online education marketplace, today announced the completion of a $12 million Series B financing round led by Insight Venture Partners, with additional support from existing investors Lightbank, MHS Capital and Learn Capital, bringing Udemy’s total funding to $16 million. The new capital will be used primarily for expanding the range and types of Udemy’s content offerings as well as extending the content catalog across new platforms. Udemy will continue to bring on the best content from the world’s leading experts, publishers and universities. In addition, the company announced the hiring of Dennis Yang as president and chief operating officer.

Launched in early 2010, Udemy is democratizing education by making top-quality content from the world’s experts dramatically more affordable for anyone, anywhere. The site currently offers over 5,000 courses – with over 400 courses added in October 2012 alone – covering a wide range of subjects, including professional, business, technical, academic, creative and lifestyle. Courses are delivered on demand, so adult learners in particular can take them at their own pace when and where it is convenient for them. Those teaching via Udemy are able to build a curriculum based on videos, slide presentations, PDFs, documents, articles, links, photos and live conferences with their students.

Yang, who previously served as executive advisor to a number of start-ups and held leadership roles with 4INFO and Good Technology, will lead Udemy’s business and operations-related activities, working closely with chief executive officer and co-founder Eren Bali.

“Our marketplace model has allowed us to double our course offerings in just 12 months, grow our user base to over 500,000 students, and increase our revenue 400% over last year,” noted Yang. “Udemy is already a top destination for online learning. This round of funding will allow us to continue to build the most amazing and unique content library in the world, expand our content and platform offerings and capitalize on the disruptive market dynamics of MOOCs and other online learning platforms.”

The Series B investment is Udemy’s third round of financing, having previously raised $3 million in October 2011 and $1 million in August 2010. The company recently announced a strategic partnership with The Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University to offer online leadership development solutions, and last month launched an iPad app, making its content even more accessible to students who want to learn anytime, anywhere. In May 2012, Udemy reported that its top 10 instructors collectively earned over $1.6 million.

“Our traditional education model is going through a radical transformation, making a dramatic shift toward the new platforms of online learning such as MOOCs, and Udemy is at the forefront with a unique marketplace model that provides a place for students to receive a quality education while giving instructors of all types the opportunity to earn significant income,” said Brad Twohig, vice president, Insight Venture Partners. “We look forward to seeing the company continuing to lead in this market and grow worldwide.”

About Udemy

Udemy is the leading marketplace for online learning, democratizing education by making top-quality content from the world’s experts dramatically more affordable for anyone, anywhere. Offering over 5,000 courses on a wide range of topics, Udemy allows experts worldwide – including best-selling authors, CEOs, celebrities, publishers, faculty and universities – to easily create and deliver consumer-grade online learning experiences where students can learn on demand at their own pace. Founded in 2010, privately-owned Udemy is funded by Insight Venture Partners, Lightbank, MHS Capital, 500 Startups and other investors responsible for funding Internet giants like YouTube, LinkedIn, Zynga, Twitter and Yelp. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco. Web: www.udemy.com | Twitter: @udemy | Facebook: www.facebook.com/udemy.

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading venture capital and private equity firm investing in on-premise and SaaS-based software, eCommerce, Internet and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $5 billion and made more than 150 investments worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. We provide founders with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information, visit insightpartners.com.

Contact:
For Udemy
Brenda Patterson, 440.623.9581
brenda@shevrushpr.com

Smartsheet Raises $26 Million in Funding from Insight Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Smartsheet Raises $26 Million in Funding from Insight Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group

BELLEVUE, WASH. – December 3, 2012 – Smartsheet.com Inc., a leading online collaboration provider, today announced it has secured $26 million from Insight Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group. The company will use the funding to accelerate sales and marketing efforts, advance software development efforts, and expand partnerships. As part of the transaction, Ryan Hinkle, principal at Insight Venture Partners, will join Smartsheet’s Board of Directors.

Today, more than 1 million people across 100 countries use Smartsheet to coordinate and manage processes and projects by sharing critical information securely with colleagues, vendors, and clients. Its easy-to-use spreadsheet-inspired design and cloud-based architecture is revolutionizing how groups of all sizes can work effectively together. Smartsheet is deployed in a broad range of customer environments, from large enterprises including HomeAway, DHL, Toshiba, ESPN, Sony Music, and MetLife to small and medium-sized companies such as Motion Federal Credit Union and Cypress Grove Chevre.

“Emailing spreadsheets back and forth just doesn’t cut it anymore,” said Mark Mader, chief executive officer of Smartsheet. “Dispersed and virtual teams need a more effective way to work together, and Smartsheet is that platform. Smartsheet is, first and foremost, extremely easy to use – but it is also secure and scales up to enable highly complex, multi-departmental processes. Our continued triple-digit growth tells us we've built something that virtually every organization needs. We're going to use this additional capital to further expand Smartsheet's capabilities, and to reach organizations that need Smartsheet but don't know about it yet.”

“Insight is a big user of Smartsheet and one of the more than 20,000 organizations who organically discovered and benefits from the work collaboration that Smartsheet provides,” commented Hinkle. “Our own experience using Smartsheet, along with market dynamics, convinced us of Smartsheet’s tremendous growth potential and the opportunity it has to be a leading global provider of team-based collaboration products. We are excited to join the team and support them in their vision.”

Smartsheet meets the demands of a modern workforce and has gained significant popularity with organizations for managing a broad array of work – from marketing campaigns to product launches, business operations, sales pipelines, strategic planning and HR initiatives. Smartsheet also offers pre-built templates and integrations with leading cloud apps including Google Drive, Box and Salesforce to ensure users are up and running quickly.

According to Forrester Research, the online collaboration software market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years as companies look for better ways to collaborate and manage projects. In fact, Forrester Survey data indicates “the majority of decision makers at organizations deploying collaboration software indicate they either use or plan to use collaboration SaaS to some extent within the next two years.”

About Smartsheet
Smartsheet, a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) company, offers businesses an intuitive online collaboration tool. The ease of use of the familiar spreadsheet-like interface, coupled with file sharing, work automation and Gantt chart features have made it a popular and highly functional online collaboration tool for teams. Organizations worldwide rely on Smartsheet to help them manage their work. Customers include construction companies, consulting firms, schools and universities, utility firms, government entities, healthcare organizations, high-tech firms, non-profits, manufacturing and law firms, among others. Visit www.smartsheet.com for more details.

About Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a leading private equity and venture capital firm focused on the global software, Internet and data-services industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $5 billion and made more than 150 investments. Insight has a successful two-team structure: its investment team evaluates thousands of companies globally each year; its Insight Onsite team of consultants works with growth-stage management to provide resources and advice to allow them to achieve long-term success. For more information, visit http://www.insightpartners.com.

About Madrona Venture Group
Madrona (www.madrona.com) has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest since 1995 and has been privileged to play a role in some of the region's most successful technology ventures. The firm invests predominantly in seed and Series A rounds across the information technology spectrum including consumer Internet, commercial software and services, digital media and advertising, networking and cloud computing, and mobile. Madrona manages nearly $1 billion and was an early investor in companies such as Amazon.com, Farecast.com, Isilon Systems, Sharebuilder, and World Wide Packets.