JMI Equity’s strategic investment in Vantaca, a North Carolina maker of community management software, announced on Tuesday is in line with its long-held focus on IP-rich software and tech-enabled services, not to mention its stated goals of maximizing returns.
General partner David Greenberg hailed the Wilmington, N.C., firm’s leadership of the industry and its “deep industry domain and commitment to product investment and customer success.”
Vantaca CEO Ben Currin explained his “non-traditional approach to capitalization” — via strategic sale of equity, rather than venture funding — on finding in JMI “long-term partners who believe in investing in the community management industry for the long haul.”
Dave Sweyer, a long-time management company owner, founded Vantaca in 2015. He holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from Duke University. For the past two years, Vantaca has been named to the Inc. 5000 list.
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JMI was founded in 1992 by Harry Gruner, Charles Noell and John Moores, founder and former CEO of BMC Software. Previously, Gruner and Noell, who is now an avid racehorse owner, served at the investment bank Alex.Brown. Gruner, who has served on the boards of over 40 software and information businesses, including seven public companies, and Peter Arrowsmith, who joined the firm in 1996, serve as joint managing partners.
With offices in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and San Diego, Calif., JMI is a growth equity firm with a sharp focus on software companies. In its 30-year history, it has raised over $7.5 billion — nearly a third of it in the past two years — and invested in over 175 businesses, typically putting in between $20 million and $200 million in portfolio firms. It has made 110 exits, and completed 19 initial public offerings. Of JMI’s 30 investment professionals, located in Baltimore and San Diego offices, 11 are general partners.
Besides Vantaca, JMI’s recent investments include Performio, Whistic, PointClickCare and HackerRank. Last year, the firm set a hectic deal-making pace last year, in line with its large recent fund-raising. Its portfolio investments included a $100 million deal in OnBoard, a cloud-based board management solution; Condeco, a maker of workspace scheduling software; Service Trade, a software platform for commercial service contractors.
