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Transactions

February 2016
San Mateo, CA
received a strategic investment from
Tokyo, Japan


Background

Based in San Mateo, CA, Xignite, is a leading provider of market data cloud solutions to some of the world’s largest, financial institutions and financial technology companies. Xignite powers many of the most innovative companies in financial technology, including Betterment, Currency Cloud, SoFi, Jimubox and 8 Securities.

Xignite has previously raised capital  from  leading financial sponsors including StarVest Partners, Altos Ventures, and Startup Capital Ventures.  However it was at a point where it was ready to take the next step and raise significant growth capital to support its global expansion.



Overview

M&A had the advantage of knowing both the industry and the players including the many financial sponsors that have targeted the market data industry for investment. M&A organized a dedicated team to work closely with Management to identify strengths and weaknesses of the Company, and to develop materials that would seamlessly communicate Xignite’s story, growth potential, strategy, execution plan and financial projections. Working with Xignite’s management, it became clear that Asia represented a very large, albeit difficult market for the company.  Establishing a de novo presence in Asia can be difficult, with cultural, language, and other barriers to overcome.  M&A suggested approaching strategic parties in Asia in order to secure the funds needed to grow while also establishing a credible partner in the market.  M&A secured multiple alternatives for the company, including a more traditional financing from a US-based investor, an offer to acquire the company, and multiple alternatives from Asian strategics.

After a review of the options, careful consideration, and negotiation, Xignite chose to partner with the Nikkei Group and its subsidiary the QUICK Corp.  In addition to raising capital from the Nikkei Group, partnering with Nikkei will offer an opportunity to capture growth in the Asian market.

M&A Role

Marlin & Associates worked diligently on the deal to craft materials, initiate conversations, and negotiate alternative offers with multiple parties and final legal documents swiftly. Marlin & Associates acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to the shareholders and managers of Xignite.

“The team at Marlin & Associates was instrumental in our completing this pivotal transaction. The Asian market represents an enormous opportunity for our company and the next pioneer for the FinTech revolution. Marlin demonstrated a thorough understanding of our business and worked tirelessly to aid us in completing this very important investment and partnership.  We are excited to have QUICK’s backing and shared vision of an advanced, global market data cloud infrastructure. Thank you, Marlin!”  ~ Stephane Dubois, CEO and Founder, Xignite.

Please read the press release here.

Press

Xignite, Leading Provider of Market Data Cloud Solutions, Closes $20M Series C Funding Round Led by QUICK Corp

February 08, 2016

February 8, 2016

Xignite Closes $20M Series C Funding Round Led by QUICK Corp

Xignite, the leading provider of market data cloud solutions for financial institutions and financial technology companies, today announced that it has raised $20.5 million in a Series C funding round led by Tokyo-based QUICK Corporation, part of the Nikkei  Group and Japan’s largest financial information provider. StarVest Partners, Altos Ventures, and Startup Capital Ventures, Xignite’s current investors, also participated. This new round brings Xignite’s total funding to $37 million.

In connection with the capital raise, Xignite and QUICK will be partnering to deliver Xignite’s cloud-based data solutions in the Asian market as well as QUICK’s proprietary financial data and information through Xignite’s market leading APIs. Xignite brings an elastic cloud infrastructure solution that is easy to use, multi-tenant, built on open standards and scalable with zero footprint to clients. QUICK is the first and leading financial information provider in Japan with a strong reputation and brand in Asia and a member of the Nikkei  group.

Xignite will use the funds to further scale its sales and marketing efforts and expand its product capabilities in order to fuel the company’s continued global growth. Together with QUICK, Xignite will continue to accelerate the growth and disruption created by financial technology innovations in the Asian market and elsewhere around the world.

Xignite powers many of the world’s most innovative fintech leaders, including Betterment, Currency Cloud, SoFi, Jimubox and 8 Securities. Xignite’s 1000+ customers are revolutionizing the financial services industry, disrupting key markets such as trading, wealth management, payments, and financial research and analysis. Over the past year, Xignite has experienced explosive growth, growing bookings by over 50 percent and serving more than 455 billion data requests from its APIs, with demand doubling every 6 months.

“The fintech revolution has only just begun and will sweep all aspects of the financial services industry in the coming years”, said Stephane Dubois, CEO and founder of Xignite. “Financial institutions can no longer afford to operate rigid and proprietary data infrastructures. Fintech innovators continue to put pressure on more traditional financial services companies. These legacy institutions must innovate and simultaneously cut costs if they want to survive and thrive in this new paradigm. This includes the complex, burdensome and costly consumption of financial data. We are excited to have QUICK’s backing and shared vision of an advanced, global market data cloud infrastructure.”

“Asia is the world’s largest fintech frontier and the region is experiencing hyper-growth,” said Noboru Yoshioka, QUICK’s President and CEO. “We are very pleased to announce that QUICK has partnered with Xignite, one of the most innovative fintech companies in the financial services industry. By combining our experience and leading position in Asia with Xignite’s technology and innovation, we have a unique opportunity to capture the growth in this market.”

Atsuyuki Nakajima, QUICK Managing Director, will be joining Xignite’s Board of Directors. Mr Nakajima currently leads QUICK’s Global and Strategic Business Development activities. As a 35+ year QUICK veteran, he brings invaluable knowledge and experience of the Asian market and financial market data to the Xignite board.

Marlin & Associates acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Xignite in connection with the transaction. Jonathan Kaufman, Senior Managing Director at Marlin, said, “We are extremely pleased to have played a role in this exciting transaction, a significant event in the market data industry. Stephane Dubois has built an impressive and innovative company that has helped fuel the growth and innovation in the financial technology industry. We wish Xignite and QUICK the best of luck in their partnership.”

ABOUT XIGNITE

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Named to the Forbes Fintech 50 List, Xignite, Inc. provides cloud-based financial market data APIs to help emerging companies and established enterprises deliver real-time and reference market data to their digital assets, such as websites and mobile apps. Xignite’s clients include more than 1,000 financial services, media and software companies from disruptive fintech firms, such as Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, Robinhood, StockTwits, Wealthfront and Yodlee, to leading financial institutions, exchanges and market data vendors. For more information, visit http://www.xignite.com or follow on Twitter @xignite.

ABOUT QUICK

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As a financial information vendor in the Nikkei Group, QUICK distributes real-time global securities and financial information as well as political and economic information. It provides comprehensive solutions to the securities and financial market with services for supporting asset management, order routing and execution and network construction and maintenance.

ABOUT NIKKEI

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Nikkei Inc. is one of the largest business media groups in Asia. Established in 1876 and upholding its corporate creed of being “fair and impartial”, Nikkei has consistently provided high-quality reporting on business, economic and international affairs. Group operations range from books and magazine to digital media, database services, broadcasting, economic/cultural events and other activities. After Nikkei’s purchase of the Financial Times Group,  two business media brands span all corners of the world with unrivalled reach and indispensable news, comment and analysis.

 

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