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Fast-growing event management cloud software provider poised to accelerate growth and digitally transform the global events and venue sourcing market
CHICAGO – July 11, 2017 – etouches, a leading global provider of cloud event management software and sourcing solutions, recently announced it has been acquired by HGGC, a leading middle market private equity firm. HGGC’s investment will help etouches significantly expand its business and further invest in its market-leading cloud platform to win a greater share of the $6 billion event management software (EMS) and venue sourcing market. First Analysis first invested in etouches in May 2016 and has retained a portion of its investment in the company following the acquisition.
etouches’ end-to-end platform provides event management and venue sourcing solutions to a broad set of customers worldwide in all major verticals, addressing a wide range of event management and data needs and complexities. Its state-of-the-art cloud platform brings together hotel and venue sourcing, event marketing and content, registration and logistics, engagement and mobile, and data analytics and ROI solutions. etouches employs a data-and-analytics-driven focus to provide real-time insights, customer engagement and smart solutions to more than 1,300 global customers including Lufthansa, Dell, IKEA, Volkswagen/Audi, Ticketmaster, BNP Paribas, National Australia Bank, Mary Kay, Mazda, and NPR. The company has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates.
“We are very excited to partner with HGGC as we continue to enhance our offering and capitalize on the large whitespace in the market” said Oni Chukwu, CEO of etouches. “The HGGC team’s experience in marketing technology gives them a very sophisticated understanding of the opportunity in front of us as enterprises transition from single-point solutions to a suite of solutions that manage the entire event lifecycle.”
Throughout its growth over the past nine years, etouches has maintained the highest level of service and quality, winning multiple industry awards including Superior Customer Service, Best Event Management Technology, Best Event Management Software, and Best Event Management Solutions. etouches was also named Best Place to Work in several industry leading publications while achieving a revenue retention rate over 100%.
“Under Oni’s leadership, etouches has become a premier provider of EMS and venue sourcing solutions, more than doubling revenues since 2014,” said Steve Young, co-founder and managing director of HGGC. “We’re confident that the additional resources we can bring to bear will accelerate etouches’ already impressive growth and outpace the competition. Because we see etouches as a growth investment just starting to reach its potential, we’ve made this acquisition without leverage and are putting cash on the balance sheet to ensure nothing slows the company’s trajectory.”
Over the past 12 months, etouches has executed 46,000 events totaling 5.8 million registrations.
About etouches
etouches is a global leader in cloud based analytics and data driven end-to-end event management and venue sourcing solutions. The award winning open source platform delivers innovative technology solutions to streamline the event process, providing real-time data and analytics on event performance and customer engagement and increasing measurable event ROI. Founded in 2008, etouches has assisted over 25,000 event professionals in planning, executing and measuring their events. With a focus on event sourcing, registration, marketing, logistics, engagement, mobile and data analytics, the company serves more than 1,300 customers including leading corporations, associations, agencies and educational institutions globally. Headquartered in the United States, the company also has offices in the UK, Belgium, Australia, Singapore and UAE. etouches has experienced 50% CAGR over the past 4 years.
About First Analysis
First Analysis is a leading venture capital investor, having invested more than $750 million over three decades. We use our integrative research process to uncover and leverage the best opportunities in emerging high-growth segments in technology and healthcare for the benefit of the investors and growth companies we serve, as well as our broader society and environment. The integrative research process drives success by unifying naturally divergent perspectives, capabilities, skillsets, and relationships. The process integrates 1) dynamic investment research on thousands of publicly traded and privately held companies with 2) thousands of relationships among executives, investors, and other key participants in our focus areas, yielding a deep, comprehensive understanding of each segment’s near-term and long-term potential. We help established companies become profitable leaders in large markets, funding growth plans and working closely with management in areas including strategy, recruitment, sales and marketing, and corporate development. Our flexible approach targets investing $3-10 million as lead investor or as a syndicate partner who brings valuable perspective.
For more information, please contact:
Corey Greendale
Managing Director
cgreendale@firstanalysis.com
312-258-7139
Jim Macdonald
Managing Director
jmacdonald@firstanalysis.com
312-258-7124
To download a pdf version of this announcement, please follow the link below:
First Analysis portfolio company etouches acquired by HGGC - July 2017