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epicor

Epicor – The Makers Of Business Software For Its Peers With Over Fifty Years Of Experience.

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The retail and business industry is the one that needs most of the documentation, and the software industry has played a vital role to help out those businesses with these hectic documentation processes. Software today is for almost every work, like tracking the resources, and keeping the records of inventory as well as exports, thus making the work seem less and quicker than earlier. Epicor is one of such software developers who are behind those amazing business software that is reducing the work time for every business globally. The company, with its over fifty years of experience in the software industry, has made its different identity from its peers.

About Epicor

Epicor Software Corporation is an American software company. The company was founded fifty years ago in 1972 in Texas, Austin, and since then headquarters of the company has been in the same city. Epicor is known for its business software which mainly includes, ERP, CRM, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Human Capital Management (HCM), and Retail software. This software is responsible for documenting everything from manufacturing, distribution, retail, services, etc., and all the products are available in both on-premises deployment and software-as-a-service (SaaS) models. Epicor is a private company, and Steve Murphy is the current CEO at Epicor. The company is home to over 5000 employees globally.

The company is about fifty years old and is excelling in the field of software development. Today, the company has expanded to over 150 countries, with over 4000 employees working for it and 120,000 clients worldwide.

epicor
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The Founding of Epicor

Epicor includes the story of two companies forming Epicor Software Corporation. In 1972 Triad Systems Corporation was established that became Activant in 2003, a contributing company to Epicor. On the other hand, Advanced Business Microsystems was a company that built accounting software for Ms-Dos in partnership with IBM. Later, ABM started to develop financial accounting software under the name Platinum and had its name changed from ABM to Platinum Software Corporation in 1992. With the new name, the company started to produce products for Microsoft Windows as well. After impacting acquisitions like Clientele and FocusSoft, the company merged its operations with DataWorks, and in 1999, was renamed Epicor Software Corporation. Activant, on the other hand, was acquired by Apax Partners, which ultimately merged the operations of Activant with Epicor Software Corporation.

Through Epicor’s Platinum for Windows software was very popular, the company sold it to Sage Group in 2001. Epicor introduced its web-based platform named Service Enterprises in 2003. Along with growing its products and their growth was contributed by some major acquisitions at the same time. The company acquired Intrepid (1995), Interactive Group (1997), CompuNet (2003), Scala (2004), CRS Retail (2005), NSB (2007), Spectrum Human Resource Systems Corporation (2010), Solarsoft Business Systems (2012), QuantiSense (2014), ShopVisible, LLC (2015), KKR (2016), 1 EDI Source (2019), etc.

The company also endorses the idea of sustainability and has released a program with the name ‘Fit for the Future.’

The CEO At Epicor

Steve Murphy is the current CEO of Epicor. He has over 25 years of experience in the field of technology. Murphy had joined the company in 2017. Before joining Epicor, he has worked in companies like OpenText, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Accenture, and Manugistics, in various executive roles. Academically, he has got a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California and has completed an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Zuora

Zuora – A savior for large enterprises to help with their billing systems.

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Zuora is an American enterprise software company that develops software for businesses to manage their subscription-based services. When the company was founded, its main goal was to assist large enterprises with a proper billing system. Zuora provides a cloud-based billing platform that is designed to automate several features like recurring billing, collections, revenue recognition, subscription metrics, etc. Zuora is a publicly-traded company that is currently headquartered in Redwood Shores, California. It has more than 1,200 employees working under Tien Tzuo, CEO of the company.

About Zuora

Zuora was founded in 2007 in a small office at Mountain View, California. The founders of the company are K.V. Rao, Cheng Zuo, and Tien Tzuo. They both had industry experience as they spent several years working at WebEx and salesforce.com. Zuora, today, has become a leading company in the subscription economy industry as its cloud-based platform automates all subscription order-to-revenue operations for its clients.

The company went public in 2018 and got listed on New York Stock Exchange. The same year it established a partnership with maximum automobile manufacturing giants. Recently, Zuora was named one of the best workplaces by Glassdoor (2018) and became Innovator of the Year (2019) by the San Mateo County Economic Development Association.

History of the Company

In 2007, the three founders established Zuora to help enterprise companies in the 21st century with their real-time billing platform. Before founding Zuora, Roa and Zou were engineers at WebEx while Tzuo was an executive at Salesforce. They named the company after their surnames (combination of three surnames) and launched their first flagship product in 2008. In 2008 they launched two products, Z-billing and Z-Force. The latter one was the first billing solution of the company fully integrated with Salesforce CRM.

Zuora
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Expansion

Zuora attracted investors from the beginning and hence it was able to raise lucrative funding from many famous investors. This helped Zuora expand in international markets in a short time. In 2010, the company expanded to Europe, and the next year it made it into the OnDemand Top 100 Private Companies list. It was also featured in VentureWire’s FASTech 50 list and JMP Hot 100 Best Privately Held Software Companies.

In 2012 the company expanded to the Australian market and the next year it celebrated its 50th consecutive product release. In 2015, Zuora opened eight new offices worldwide and also entered the Japanese market, and became a total team of 500 employees. It also launched subscribed magazine and bagged the best technology innovation award from Ventana Research. 2016 was an eventful year for Zuora as it launched subscribed podcasts, featured on Forbes 100 Best Cloud Companies, Tzuo named E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year, crossed $40 billion invoice transaction volume, etc. This year Zuora also launched the Subscription Economy Index, a product that tracks revenue growth of subscription businesses.

By 2017, Zuora successfully landed 900 customers and released its 100th product since it was launched. Ken Goldman, CFO of Yahoo, joined Zuora’s board and the company also opened a new data center in Germany. Recently, Zuora has brought many experienced new members into the team like Robbie Traube (former Adobe executive) as Chief Revenue Officer and Todd McElhatton (former employee of SAP) as Chief Financial Officer.

Funding

Zuora successfully led its first round of funding (Series A) on the year that it was founded. It raised $6 million in Series A funding and it was led by Benchmark Capital and Marc Benioff. In September 2008, the Series B funding was led by Shasta Ventures where the company raised $15 million followed by $20 million in October 2010. By 2015 Zuora already conducted a Series F funding round and raised a total amount of $250 million. Major investors include Redpoint Ventures, Greylock Partners, Shasta Ventures, Index Ventures, Vulcan Capital, etc.

Tien Tzuo – Co-founder and CEO of Zuora

Tien Tzuo is a famous American tech entrepreneur who co-founded Zuora. He is currently the CEO of the company and was previously the Chief Strategy Officer of Salesforce. Tzuo was born in Taiwan and moved to Brooklyn when he was very young. He completed his studies at Cornell University and worked at Oracle Corporation for six years.

Angi Inc.

Angi Inc. – The Largest Marketplace And Review Service Of America.

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Before the internet era, one would only get to know about things through radio or TV. But the most reliable source of information used to be the word of mouth. But this type of information system, despite being the most accurate and reliable, did not have the reach. One could only provide information about a particular, topic like a sort of home decor service or the service of a hospital, etc., to people they knew. Though there used to be directories like Yellow pages and ads in the newspaper that would help to an extent, with limited reach and were the static approach. The arrival of the internet and the fact that it is accessible to all has helped companies like Angi. Angi is an online platform that facilitates review services on a broad spectrum of things to help people analyze what would suit their particular needs. Angi Inc. is as reliable a platform as mouth-to-mouth marketing has been, just with a broader reach. It is an internet content and information platform and one of the largest home service websites in America where people can put or read reviews on local businesses and contractors.

About The Company

Angi Inc. previously known as ANGI Homeservices Inc. is a publically traded home service website for putting and viewing reviews about nearby businesses and contractors. The company was founded in 1995 and trades on Nasdaq as ANGI. William S. Oesterle and Angie Hicks are the founders of Angi, and IAC is the current owner of the company. The platform provides an online marketplace for businesses and offers review services to people. Angi’s corporate headquarters is based in Denver, Colorado. As of 2019, 4500 people are working for Angi, and it made annual revenues worth US$1.132 billion in the same year. Angi and HomeAdvisor are its major subsidiaries.

Angi Inc.
Image source: townnews.com

Founding Angi Inc.

The idea behind Angi’s founding came up to Angie Hicks when he was looking for some reliable construction contractor for his boss William S. Oesterle in the suburban Columbus, Ohio in 1995. The search resulted in Hicks joining Oesterle to start a call-in service in Columbus for its natives, where they could rate a certain home or lawn care service. For that, Hicks went door-to-door and asked people to sign up for reviewing local contractors. In a year in Columbus, Hicks was able to recruit 1000 members and also raised money for the new business.
In 1996, the founder acquired Unified Neighbors a company providing similar review services. In 2012, the company name was changed to HomeAdvisor, and it made acquisitions like Werkspot (2013) and MyHammer (2016). In 2010, the company raised $25 million in capital to operate its other wing, Angie’s List. Angi went public on the NASDAQ exchange in 2011. In 2014, the company opened another branch of Werkspot.nl in Italy. The year 2015 noted the most growth for the company, as the recorded annual revenues for the year was $300 million.
The next year, Angi made its Angie’s List a freemium service having over 10 million reviews over it for free. The platform provided additional services on the paid subscription for the same. In October 2017, IAC acquired Angi and merged Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor into one. The new company was renamed ANGI Homeservices. Another name change for Angie’s List and ANGI Homeservices took place in 2021. The former was renamed Angi, and the latter now is known as Angi Inc.

The CEO At Angi Inc.

Oisin Hanrahan is the current Chief Executive Officer of Angi Inc. He went to the Harvard Business School and earned a Master of Business Administration. He has also got a master’s in Finance from the London School of Economics as well as a Business, Economics, and Social Sciences degree, which he received from Trinity College Dublin.
Hanrahan is a well-known entrepreneur, as he has founded companies like MiCandidate and Clearwater Group. He has also co-founded The Undergraduate Awards. He joined Angi in 2018 when one of his founded companies was acquired by Angi. Before becoming the CEO of Angi, he served the company as the CPO (Chief Product Officer). In February 2021, Hanrahan was named the CEO of Angi Inc.

Constellation Software

Constellation Software – A Multinational Conglomerate That Acquires And Builds Software Companies.

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Constellation Software is a Canadian-based diversified software company. The headquarters of the company is based in Toronto, Ontario. In 1996, a former venture capitalist, Mark Leonard founded Constellation Software Inc. The main idea of the company is to buy exceptional and good businesses in their respective verticals based on a few criteria. After the acquisition, CSI studies the history of the company to help it grow and become the number one player in the market. It helps the good businesses become exceptional and the exceptional businesses have consistent growth and profitability.

About Constellation Software

Founded in 1996, CSI is a public traded company and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company went public in 2006 and it is also a constituent of the S&P/TSX 60. Currently, CSI has 6 operating segments and the company server globally with 16,000 employees. The annual revenue of the company is over $3 billion. CSI acquires companies in various fields ranging from software businesses to construction companies.

Acquisition Criteria of CSI

The companies that are selling their business units or the entire company to CSI can be due to various reasons. Maybe the companies find a new interest in a different sector or reasons of health, estate planning, etc. But, the main idea of CSI is to hold the status of an exceptional company and run it following its past. And, in case of a good company that CSI acquires it tries to understand the factors which have hindered it from becoming an exceptional company.

Constellation Software
Image source: globenewswire.com

Business Strategy

The main target of the company is to acquire as many good and exceptional companies as possible and hold them back for a long time. CSI was founded in 1996 and since then it has acquired around 500 companies. CSI focuses on a lot of sectors for acquiring the top market players from each sector. It has its main interest in vertical market software companies that create industry-focused software. Depending on the history of the company, past growth, profitability, and acquisitions, CSI takes a decision. It also buys companies that haven’t made significant growth but show huge potential.

The business strategy of CSI has proved to be very impactful for the growth of the company. The value of its stocks has increased to 30 folds since it filed IPO. Most of the acquisitions of CSI are small, i.e., ranging below $5 million. One of the biggest acquisitions in the history of CSI was acquiring Acceo Solutions in January 2018. The deal was closed at $250 million. In recent years, CSI experiences very tough competition in acquiring companies. The main competitors in the market are private equity and hedge funds. CSI generates most of its revenue from the US (52%) followed by Europe and Canada.

Operations Of Constellation Software

There are six operating segments of CSI. The first segment is Volaris Group which focuses on buying software businesses in various sectors (finance, education, agriculture, etc). The second is Harris Computer Systems which mainly focuses on serving the public sectors and it includes utilities, education, and healthcare. The third one is for the hospitality and construction sector and it is called Jonas Software. Under this segment, CSI has 70 companies. The fourth segment is Vela Software which focuses on the industrial sector and especially on oil and gas manufacturing companies. Perseus Operating Group is the fifth segment and it focuses on pulp and paper business and real estate. Last but not least is the Total Specific Solutions which focuses on the UK and Europe-based software companies.

About Mark Leonard – Constellation Software

Mark Leonard is a billionaire and an entrepreneur who started CSI in 1995. He is currently President and Chairman of the Board in CSI. Mark went to the University of Guelph and the University of Western Ontario. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Mark worked as a bounder, mason, wind energy researcher, and some other jobs.

Visma

Visma – A Leading Software Company In The Nordic Region And Europe.

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Visma is a computer software company that is owned by a group of private equity firms. The company was founded in 1996 and it is based in Oslo, Norway. The Visma management only owns 6.6 percent of the company and the other owners include Hg and co-investors (major ownership), Cinven, Immediate Capital Group, and Montagu. Back in 1996, Company was formed by the merger of multiple companies are Multisoft, SpecTec, and Dovre Information Systems.

About The Company

Visma is a Nordic software company that mainly provides business software, IT consultancy, and related services. The main market of Company is spread across the entire Nordic region and also in Central and Eastern Europe as well. Some of the countries where the Company has offices are Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Hungary, United Kingdom, and many more. Currently, Company has around 900,000 customers out of which the majority are from Northern Europe.

The CEO of the company is Merete Hverven and there are 12,500 employees working under her supervision. Visma is a big organization and it has been divided into five groups for different operations. The five divisions are Visma SMB (software division), Visma Enterprise, Visma Custom Solutions, Cloud Infrastructure Services, and Commerce Solutions. The revenue generated last year by the company was 18.68 billion NOK.

Visma
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History of Visma

The company started its operations officially in 1996 and it got listed on Oslo Stock Exchange and started operating as a public company. The companies that today form Visma were merged in 1996 and together as a single organization rolled out three key products, SpecTec (marine), Visma Logistics, and Visma Business. In 1997, the company faced some financial crisis as the investment company planned for the growth of the company exceeded the company’s resources. In order to survive this turmoil, the company was restructured, and hence most of the management team and board of directors were replaced. A new CEO was hired for the company but at the same time, there were several layoffs.

Two years after reorganizing the company, it started expanding overseas. In 1999, the company opened offices in Denmark and the UK. The company started to prepare itself for the launch of Visma Business e-commerce, developed its web, and WAP extensions for all the applications of Visma. In 2000, Company decided to sell its Marine ASA’s operations. The deal was confirmed with a Dutch company called Station 12 and the cash Visma received was used to offer both software and outsourcing services within finance and payroll.

Growth and Expansion

In 2001, Company acquired a Swedish company called Spcs which was followed by acquiring a Finnish company called Liinos. Through the acquisition of Liinos, Company strategically entered the Finnish market. In the later years, Visma entered into the Norwegian and Danish market and also into the public sector through the acquisition of Møre Datasystemer. In 2003, the company also started a collaboration with Norway’s largest bank (DNB) and the national postal service. By the time the company was growing steadily, it established Visma’s Management Trainee program. In 2006, Company entered the Dutch market after it acquired AccountView, a software company. During this time, the ownership of the company changed as Visma became a private company with majority of ownership going to HgCapital.

Visma as a Private Company

After the change in ownership, the company established its retail IT division. In 2009, Company completed the construction of its new headquarters in Oslo and also became the second-largest accounting firm in Finland. In 2010, Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts acquired 76.9 percent ownership of the company and after this transaction, the valuation of the Company became 11 billion NOK. In the upcoming years, Visma acquired some more companies and rolled out products for medium and small-scale businesses. Last year, the company acquired Yuki, a Dutch company that provides a bookkeeping software platform.

Merete Hverven – CEO of Visma

In 2011, Merete Hverven joined Visma as HR Director and after two years she became the Chief Human Resource Officer. Last year, she became the CEO of the company and she has been awarded several prestigious mentions for her leadership, influence, and passion in tech. In 2019, she became one of the top three most influential women in technology by ODA Award Woman.