H.I.G. Capital, a global alternative investment firm with $44 billion of equity capital under management, provided an investment to Cleo Communications, a global provider of ecosystem integration software solutions. Terms were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Rockford, IL, Cleo Communications is an ecosystem integration software-as-a-service platform company that modernizes the movement and integration of B2B enterprise data. The Cleo Integration Cloud platform provides more than 4,000 customers worldwide with strategic supply chain visibility into revenue-critical end-to-end business processes across the ecosystems of partners and customers, marketplaces and customers’ internal applications.
“We are extremely excited to welcome H.I.G. Capital as an investment partner in Cleo as we continue executing on our mission to redefine B2B integration in the cloud, solidifying Cleo’s position as the pioneer and global leader of the ecosystem integration software category,” Mahesh Rajasekharan, president and CEO of Cleo Communications, said. “Given their deep domain knowledge and our shared vision for creating customer value, H.I.G.’s investment clearly validates the momentum and acceleration of ecosystem integration adoption. It also underscores our mutual conviction that Cleo’s strategy of helping businesses manage rapid growth by improving supply chain visibility and control through cloud integration technology will continue creating expansive value for our customers and their ecosystem trading partners while rapidly accelerating Cleo’s market leadership.”
According to Gartner, the integration platform as a service (iPaaS), managed file transfer suites (MFT) and B2B gateway software (standalone) subsegments in the application infrastructure and middleware market will represent $5.5 billion in annual revenues worldwide in 2021 and are expected to grow to $7.1 billion by 2024.
“To compete successfully, companies across industries need to master increasingly complex B2B information flows and integrate the applications running the enterprise. Cleo has the platform that helps its clients meet these challenges. The company is positioned for further growth as e-commerce and the exponential market growth of digital information flows continue to expand the need for user-friendly, rapidly deployed and feature-rich platforms like Cleo’s,” Timur Akazhanov, managing director of H.I.G. Capital, said. “We believe Cleo offers best-in-class cloud integration platform technology following years of heavy investment in product development, which is now earning high praise from customers and is being adopted at a robust rate. We are thrilled to partner with Mahesh and the Cleo team to continue to accelerate the company’s growth trajectory.”
Previously, an investor group led by Alpine Investors and Peterson Partners backed Cleo Communications.
UBS Investment Bank served as exclusive financial advisor to Cleo Communications. Guggenheim Securities and Harris Williams served as financial advisors to H.I.G. Capital.
