Kimble Applications Closes Significant New Growth Investment From Accel-KKR
Investment Paves Way for Company Acceleration in Fast-Growing Services Automation Space
Kimble Applications, the leading provider of cloud-based professional services automation (PSA) solutions, today announced the closing of a significant growth investment from Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused investment firm. This transaction, which follows Accel-KKR’s initial investment in Kimble in early 2018, results in the firm becoming a majority interest holder in the company. The new investment will fuel continued innovation of the company’s industry-leading PSA platform and accelerate go-to-market initiatives that cement Kimble’s leadership position in North America for modern services organizations such as software companies.
“In a world where the first post-sales interaction that customers have is with services teams, companies are very focused on ensuring their services organizations are well-informed, well-staffed and well-equipped to drive success,” said Sean Hoban, co-founder of Kimble.
“My co-founders and I experienced that firsthand, when we ran complex services organizations in our previous roles, and then founded Kimble in 2010 precisely to have a services-first lens. Fast forward a decade, demand for solutions that address critical challenges around scoping, resourcing and delivering projects for clients is higher than it’s ever been, and we see tremendous opportunities to further innovate and expand what’s possible in our category as companies continue to push for increased predictability in resource utilization, profitability, and business scalability.”
“Since our initial investment in early 2018, we have enjoyed working with Kimble co-founders and management,” said Greg Williams, Managing Director of Accel-KKR and board member of Kimble. “Our new investment today represents a strong vote of confidence in Kimble, and in the exciting opportunities and innovations that lie ahead for the services automation industry at large.”
The PSA market is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow at a rapid clip driven by services organizations turning to PSA tools to improve productivity, operational efficiency, financial margins and billable utilization. Enterprises have been using spreadsheets and legacy solutions for various tasks such as resource and time management, but as businesses grow and become more complex, the need for automation and maintaining business quality, throughput and effectiveness will grow as well. Kimble Applications is a PSA category leader and well positioned as a market-leading resource management and project management solution to capitalize on these industry trends and help drive visibility, profitability and project success for standalone and embedded services organizations across industries like software and consulting.
“This follow-on investment from Accel-KKR is validation that Kimble is a category leader and innovator – we couldn’t be prouder of the entire Kimble team and are excited about what’s ahead for the company,” added Hoban.
“Over the three years of partnering with Accel-KKR, our teams have formed a strong relationship based on a shared vision for Kimble, resulting in some of our best operating years and robust expansion in North America. Kimble has seen tremendous growth over the past few years and is in a great place. With this investment, the business will continue to grow its position as a leader at the vanguard of the project management market and maintain its singular focus on furnishing clients with the best-in-class tools they need to consistently deliver value to their customers.”
“We plan to leverage Accel-KKR’s deep software expertise and network to help Kimble accelerate growth globally,” said Maurice Hernandez, Managing Director of Accel-KKR and board member of Kimble. “Given our ongoing relationship with the Kimble team, we are already aligned on strategies including continued focus on North American growth, supporting the team in introducing new innovations to this category and pursuing strategic M&A opportunities. We are excited to invest further capital and resources in Kimble, which is distinguished by its entrepreneurial, customer-obsessed culture, an impressive roster of global clients such as Infor and Finastra, and strong positioning in the PSA market to deliver transformative solutions to clients.”
ABOUT KIMBLE APPLICATIONS
Kimble Applications helps professional service organizations run their project-based businesses better. Global leaders in consulting, software, and hi-tech such as NTT Data, Sage, and Canon use Kimble to optimize resource utilization, profitability, and business scalability. Kimble is the only leading software vendor that focuses exclusively on professional services automation (PSA), putting all its energy into innovating features and easy-to-use functionality that improve team collaboration and efficiency around the key services processes. Built to work seamlessly with CRM, Kimble drives a forward-looking focus and more timely decision making with intelligent insights and guidance.
ABOUT ACCEL-KKR
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $10 billion in capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and tech-enabled businesses, well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value alongside management by leveraging the significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across a wide range of transaction types including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. In 2019 and 2020, Inc. named Accel-KKR to “PE 50 – The Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs”, its annual list of founder-friendly private equity firms. Accel-KKR is headquartered in Menlo Park with offices in Atlanta and London. Visit accel-kkr.com to learn more.