TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm, has completed a strategic growth investment to join Basil Technology Partners (Basil) as an investor in Accion Labs (Accion), a digital-focused software product engineering company specialising in emerging technologies. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Founded in Pittsburgh, PA in 2011, Accion is a leader in helping technology companies and enterprises leverage the power of emerging technologies. Accion’s expertise ranges across advanced UX, artificial intelligence and machine learning, big-data/analytics, migration to cloud/SaaS and re-engineering of legacy platforms, process automation, mobility, augmented reality and IOT. The company’s clients include software product companies, e-SaaS firms, e-business organisations and enterprises undergoing a digital transformation across a range of industries such as healthcare, financial services, technology and fintech. Accion has more than 2,600 engineers across 14 offices within the US, Canada, the UK and Asia-Pacific.
“We are very pleased to welcome TA Associates as an investor in Accion,” says Kinesh Doshi, Founder & CEO of Accion Labs. “In choosing to partner with TA, Accion and the Basil team were particularly attracted by the firm’s global presence, long history of investing in the technology sector and experience in growing portfolio companies through M&A. We believe that TA will prove to be a valuable partner as we seek to further grow Accion organically and through acquisitions, with a particular focus on the US and European markets.”
“TA is delighted to invest in Accion, an innovative leader in the growing digital engineering space,” says Aditya Sharma, Principal at TA Associates Advisory Private Limited. “We are excited by Accion’s rapid growth, strong global leadership team, expertise in emerging technologies, proprietary accelerators and IP, and deeply integrated customer relationships. We look forward to a close collaboration with the Accion management and Basil teams in the company’s next phase of growth.”
Management and strategy consulting firm Zinnov estimated the annual spend on digital engineering across all industries at USD160 billion in 2018, with approximately 60 per cent of that expenditure in the US, followed by Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. The firm predicted a compound annual growth rate for the sector of 19 per cent to USD380 billion through 2023.
“Spending in the digital engineering market is being driven by technology and business model innovations, growth in technology companies, including start-ups, and the emergence of a global digital ecosystem,” says Dhiraj Poddar, Managing Director at TA Associates Advisory Private Limited. “With its innovative and solutions-driven approach, we believe that Accion is well-positioned to continue capitalising on these trends and further grow its market share in this vibrant industry.”
“As a niche technology provider that we believe is disrupting the IT services space, Accion has been an ideal fit for Basil,” says Rajeev Srivastava, Executive Chairman & Managing Partner, Basil Technology Partners. “It has been truly gratifying to be involved with Accion since inception, helping to drive strategy and growth at this leading-edge business.”
“We welcome the opportunity to work with TA, leveraging their deep US market experience to help scale Accion organically and through M&A,” adds Sameer Kanwar, CEO & Partner, Basil Technology Partners.
Sharma and Poddar will join the Board of Directors of Accion Labs.
K&L Gates LLP served as US counsel, Lexygen India served as Indian counsel, KPMG served as tax advisor and Avendus Capital served as investment banker to Accion Labs and Basil Technology Partners. Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal counsel and Ernst & Young served as tax advisor to TA Associates. TA Associates Advisory Private Limited also advised on the transaction.
