Financial Technology, Data, and Analytics

Dear Clients and Friends,

The report found below gives our sense of the current m&a trends and deals in the Enterprise Data and Analytics sector that we follow and sometimes lead. 

As this year comes to a close and a new one approaches, it is worth remembering that our world of enterprise data & analytics really does include data. “Data is the new gold” is not just a catchphrase anymore, as data continues to generate increasing wealth for many. As the news media has recently noticed, firms such as AT&T, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Verizon are the tip of a large iceberg as they and hundreds of other companies, entrepreneurs and even governments – across scores of end-markets globally – collect, store, and sometimes share and sell the browsing histories, app usage data, location, gender, age, hobbies, travel histories (and plans) and a lot more information, on millions of users. It’s the new gold rush. Merry Christmas to them.

Most companies use this data for reasonable commercial purposes. But not all of them – and not all the time. Not without rules – and consequences. As we have seen, there are too many who have either mismanaged the data – or worse. Need I mention Facebook/Cambridge Analytica? No wonder there’s been an increasing cry for regulation.

We talked about Europe’s answer to data privacy “GDPR” earlier this year. The Europeans are not alone. More than 120 countries have enacted some sort of data privacy legislation with many more planning similar regulations. A report released in October from Harvard’s Kennedy School was entitled “Digital Deceit II: A Policy Agenda to Fight Disinformation on the Internet.”

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook of Apple have both embraced federal regulation – perhaps in part to pre-empt states from passing their own restrictions. (Cook said that personal data collection is being “weaponized against us with military efficiency.”) We even have an International Data Privacy Day now…for the uninitiated, it’s January 28th every year.

Transferrable data is gold. And we enjoy being in the thick of all this transformation and helping companies who are taking advantage of the opportunity to reap rewards in this wild market. As you will see from the enclosed report, m&a values and trends in this industry remain strong. We want them to stay that way. That’s why we support this increased focus on data privacy and sensible regulation.

A few of the more interesting m&a transactions are reflected in the following report including:

• Forrester (NASDAQ: FORR) acquired SiriusDecisions for $245mm in cash,
• Wave Computing (Campbell, CA) raised $200mm in an equity funding round led by Oakmont Corporation with participation from existing investors,
• Sojern (San Francisco, CA) raised $120mm in a Series D funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures and included return investor Focus Ventures,
• Primer (San Francisco, US) raised $40mm in a Series B funding round led by Lux Capital,
• Quantexa (London, United Kingdom) raised $23mm in a venture funding round led by Accenture Ventures.

Please find our full Enterprise Data & Analytics December Report below.

We wish you and your families a happy, healthy season and New Year.

Anup