Vancouver-based Tasktop has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by fellow B2B software company, Austin, Texas-based Planview.
Financial terms of the strategic acquisition, which is expected to be finalized in mid-summer 2022, were not disclosed. Once the deal closes, “the vast majority” of Tasktop’s 200-plus team will join Planview, and Tasktop founder and CEO Mik Kersten will become Planview’s CTO.
Tasktop and Planview have spent over eight years working together.
The move comes just over a year after Tasktop raised C$126 million in growth equity funding led by California-based Sumeru Equity Partners, with participation from previous investors Vancouver-based Yaletown Partners. and Elsewhere Partners, based in Austin. The round brought Tasktop’s total funding to approximately C$162.5 million (US$130 million).
Tasktop offers a software platform that helps IT managers at large enterprises track the effectiveness of software development and digitization efforts using Value Stream Management (VSM), a business practice that aims to examine the software delivery lifecycle through the lens of customer experience. Tasktop has offices in Vancouver and Austin, where Planview, a global enterprise software company that provides portfolio and work management solutions, is headquartered.
Planview and Tasktop have spent over eight years working together. Kersten told BetaKit that Tasktop’s VSM business is “additive and complementary” to Planview’s leadership in enterprise agile and strategic portfolio management.
“Together, we can help our customers connect the software delivery business by accelerating time to market, improving efficiency with unlocked capacity, and building investment confidence, ultimately enabling you to transform your organization faster and with more confidence,” said Razat Gaurav, CEO of Planview. BetaKit.
RELATED: With Fortune 500 Clients, Record Revenues, Tasktop Raises C$126M in Growth Capital
Yaletown partner Eric Bukovinsky told BetaKit that Yaletown is “very excited about the outcome,” adding that the deal recognizes “both the strategic value Tasktop has set out to create for the software development process, as well as as the market opportunity for digital transformation”.
Kersten founded Tasktop in 2007, based on his doctoral thesis in computer science from the University of British Columbia. He launched the startup until it closed in $11 million in funding from Yaletown and Austin, Texas-based Austin Ventures in 2014.
In addition to Yaletown, Austin Ventures, and Sumeru Equity Partners, Tasktop has also secured funding from some other Austin-based investors in Elsewhere Partners and AVX Partners.
Tasktop has spent years scaling its operations, amassing a list of clients including CGI, Telus Health, Wendy’s, AT&T, Best Buy, Bosch, Intel and Comcast. In 2021, Tasktop saw record growth, with its user base growing 43% year-over-year, and the company has helped companies like BMW, HSBC, Kaiser Permanente, and T-Mobile run digital transformations.
RELATED: Visier Makes First Acquisition, Acquiring Yva.ai Technology and Team to Expand Understanding of How Employees Work
Planview has over 1,000 employees, 4,000 customers and 2.4 million users. The Texas-based company was acquired from Chicago-based Thoma Bravo in 2020 for US$1.6 billion by two other San Francisco-based private equity firms TPG Capital and Boston-based TA Associates.
According to Tasktop and Planview, both of which declined to disclose financial terms of the acquisition, the newly merged entity will be a $400 million company with more than 1,200 employees and more than 5,000 enterprise customers.
Planview described the Tasktop deal as part of its strategy to “build the future of connected work and deliver transformative solutions”. The company intends to continue to invest in Tasktop’s product lines and support them as standalone solutions, while considering other possible product directions in the longer term.
“By joining forces with Planview, we will now have the complete solution that businesses need to become digital leaders and realize the success of the transformations they have envisioned,” said Kersten. “The good news is that all the practices and tools to successfully transform, build investment confidence, and unleash capacity exist today. The best news: These practices and tools will now be delivered by a single end-to-end solution.
UPDATE (05/18/22): This story has been updated with responses from Tasktop, Planview and Yaletown Partners.
Feature image courtesy of Tasktop.
Comments are closed.