A Year in Review – A Look Back on our Portfolio Companies’ Successful 2015

We’d like to recognize the many successes and accomplishments our portfolio companies achieved in 2015. From impressive rounds of funding to key acquisitions, these companies continue to be leaders in their sectors. While we won’t attempt to capture them all, below are some representative highlights:

CloudLock, a leading cloud cybersecurity and CASB provider, had a rewarding year filled with impressive rankings and revenue growth. In June, the company was selected as a Red Herring Top 100 North America Winner, recognizing the leading private companies in North America and celebrating startups’ technologies and innovations across their industries. This was followed by inclusion in Inc.’s 34th annual Inc. 5000, a ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies (# 93). CloudLock was also ranked #2 in the security category and #3 for Massachusetts-based companies. In October, they closed out Q3 with their 16th consecutive quarter of revenue growth, bringing on an additional 23 employees and a new vice president of customer success, Vicki Appel. CloudLock was also named the #3 best place to work in the U.S. in the small and medium business (SMB) category by Glassdoor.

RapidMiner, the industry’s easiest-to-use modern analytics platform, began the year by announcing it had closed $15 million in series B investment led by Ascent Venture Partners and Longworth Venture Partners, with renewed commitment from series A investors Earlybird Venture Capital and Open Ocean Capital, bringing the total investment to $20 million. In February, Gartner positioned the company in the Leaders Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Advanced Analytics Platforms. RapidMiner also had some exciting leadership moves, naming the former TIBCO executive vice president Peter Y. Lee as president and CEO, along with Tom Wentworth (formerly of Acquia) as CMO.

Sidecar, an e-commerce marketing technology that programmatically connects retailers’ products to the most relevant consumers, had a rewarding year, including completing a series B round of financing in November totaling $8 million, with Ascent Venture Partners leading the round. In 2015, the company signed almost three times as many new customers compared to 2014, along with doubling their employee count. To top it off, Sidecar was named a “Cool Vendor” in Gartner’s 2015 CRM Marketing Applications Report in addition to winning Tech Startup of the Year at PACT’s Enterprise Awards.

Perspecsys, a leader in enterprise cloud data protection solutions, had an eventful 2015 with announcements, awards, and an acquisition. In February, Perspecsys announced that the newest version of its AppProtex Cloud Data Protection Gateway launched on the Salesforce AppExchange enabling businesses to connect with partners, customers, and employees in an entirely new way. This was followed by an expansion into the German market. Additionally, the company was awarded the prestigious “Stratus Award” from the Business Intelligence Group winning the “Cloud Security Service” category for their AppProtex Cloud Data Protection Platform. In July, Blue Coat Systems, Inc., a market leader in enterprise security, acquired Perspecsys, expanding its cloud security offerings while also strengthening the industry’s booming hybrid cloud portfolio.

In 2015, Invaluable, the world’s leading online live auction marketplace, launched the Invaluable App for iPhone, available for download in the iTunes App Store. The app allows users to bid in real-time along with browse and register for auctions. Invaluable also announced record growth in the second quarter of 2015, with a 50 percent increase in the number of auctions run on the platform and a 68 percent increase in unique bidders over the same period in 2014.

Mobile advertising platform StartApp started off 2015 by celebrating 350 million monthly active users. StartApp was also named the fastest growing New York City company’s on the Inc. 5000 list for 2015, and was ranked the number one fastest growing company in North America on Deloitte’s 2015 Technology Fast 500, growing 21,984 percent from 2011 to 2014.

This selected list of portfolio achievements serves as a great example of the progress made in 2015 and the strength of the technology pioneers with whom we invest. We are excited to be working with these companies and supporting them in their growth and plans for further success.