Chicago-Based Global Software Company Vistex Raises up to $105 Million Investment from Silicon Valley PE Firm Accel-KKR
Funding Represents One of the Largest Investments in Chicago’s Technology Industry
Hoffman Estates, IL, January 23, 2019 – Chicago-based global software company Vistex Inc. announced today that the company received a minority equity investment of an initial $65 million, and up to an additional $40 million, for future strategic acquisitions from Accel-KKR (AKKR), a leading technology-focused private equity firm.
From humble beginnings, Vistex has grown over the past 20 years into a worldwide operation with 20 offices, 1,500 employees and nearly $250 million in revenue in 2018. Vistex serves businesses of all sizes around the world, enabling mission-critical processes that manage trade, channel and vendor programs, pricing, performance incentives and rights and royalties. Vistex complements its array of software offerings with implementation, business advisory and analytics services.
As Vistex embarked upon its aggressive expansion especially in its cloud portfolio, it undertook a disciplined approach to seek a strategic partner to support its growth objectives.
“This is the first equity capital raise in the history of the company. It is unprecedented for an enterprise software company to grow to a size and scale like Vistex without any external capital,” said Sanjay Shah, who founded Vistex in early 1999 and has been the Chief Architect and CEO since its inception. Together, Vistex and Accel-KKR will focus on the company’s next stage of growth and accelerate progress towards achievement of its strategic objectives.
The capital investment by Accel-KKR will support a variety of company priorities, including talent acquisition in sales, marketing and engineering from area universities and colleges.
“This announcement signals the strength of Chicago’s tech market. Technology entrepreneurs can also build successful and thriving companies outside of Silicon Valley, right here in Chicago,” continued Shah. “This infusion will provide us with the opportunity to further expand Vistex into new markets, conduct strategic acquisitions in new technologies and increase R&D efforts in AI and other capabilities.”
With the rapid adoption of digital transformation, the world's leading businesses are embracing software and services provided by Vistex to power their go-to-market initiatives and strategic objectives.
“We are excited about partnering with Vistex to build on their past success and deliver more value to their customers, partners and employees,” said Greg Williams, Managing Director at Accel-KKR.
Shah concluded, “And this partnership with Accel-KKR is designed to leverage the strength of the Vistex footprint and intellectual property with the capabilities of a leading tech-focused private equity investor to conquer new frontiers.”