Paradigm, a provider of practice management software and integrated payments to the legal industry, has secured a strategic growth investment from Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specialises in partnering with technology businesses.
The investment will provide Paradigm with a new financial partner to help it capitalise on its current momentum and continue to drive product innovation and growth. Paradigm was formed by ASG, a software platform company backed by Alpine investors, a people-driven private equity firm.
Paradigm has grown substantially in recent years as law firms increasingly demand cloud-based solutions that solve substantial complexity but are still easy to use. Paradigm’s platforms – PracticePanther, Bill4Time and MerusCase – currently serve 11,000 law firms. In addition, with the recent introduction of Paradigm’s own native payment solution powered by Headnote, accepting electronic payments has never been easier for Paradigm’s customers, who are quickly adopting the new solution.
“We are thrilled to announce this growth investment from Francisco Partners, which validates Paradigm’s strong position in the legal software ecosystem,” says Soumya Nettimi, CEO of Paradigm. “With Francisco Partners’ financial support and extensive software and payments expertise, we look forward to expanding our product suite and further innovating to help law firms operate more efficiently and easily than ever before.”
Peter Christodoulo, Partner at Francisco Partners, adds: “We believe Paradigm’s powerful, cloud-native suite for the legal sector positions it very well for long-term growth as a leader in the legal technology landscape. We are very excited to be partnering with Soumya, CFO / CRO Colin Li and the entire Paradigm team as they continue to drive innovation in the legal technology sector as they have the last several years in partnership with ASG.”
“Working with Soumya and Colin to build Paradigm over the last few years has been deeply rewarding,” says Mark Strauch, Chairman of ASG and Partner at Alpine. “This is a special business and team, and we are excited about what they will achieve next in partnership with Francisco Partners.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in Q4 subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
William Blair served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Paradigm and Alpine Investors. Raymond James served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Francisco Partners.