BigTime
Software, a leading provider of cloud-based software for
professional services firms, today announced that it has closed a $14
million investment led by Boston-based private equity firm Wavecrest
Growth Partners, with participation from MassMutual Ventures and
Migration Capital.
Chicago-based BigTime Software provides more than 2,000 professional
services firms with an integrated “all-in-one” solution for budgeting,
tracking, managing and invoicing within project-based firms. The firm
was started in 2002 and bootstrapped by University of Chicago graduate
Brian Saunders, who created the firm’s first software product, quickly
transforming BigTime into an industry leading SaaS company. The firm has
won numerous recognitions including being included in G2 Crowd’s Top 100
Software Companies, winning the Gold Stevie Award in the Cloud ERP space
and being named a top Quickbooks-integrated app by Intuit Software.
Wavecrest Growth Partners is a Boston based growth equity firm that
partners with B2B technology entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley to
accelerate growth and build sustainable operating models.
“We are excited to make the first of what we hope will be many
investments in standout high-growth B2B companies in Chicago that are
well run and ready to scale. BigTime has the technology platform and
reputation to become the go-to solution in the professional services
space,” said Vaibhav Nalwaya, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at
Wavecrest. “Brian and his team have built a solid foundation with a
highly capital-efficient mindset. Now — with the right senior team and
a few best practices, we’re confident we can scale it up over the next
several years.”
While this is the first Chicago investment for Wavecrest, its principals
have been enthusiastic supporters of the Chicago tech ecosystem for many
years. As an investor at his prior firm, Mr. Nalwaya built a close
relationship with Godard Abel and his executive team at Chicago-based
BigMachines, which was ultimately successfully acquired by Oracle. Mr.
Abel is currently the CEO of Chicago-based G2.
“We made a decision in mid-2018 that the demand for our enterprise
product was simply too high for us to be able to meet without
significant additional investment in our sales and marketing engine.
During our more than 50 discussions with investment firms, Wavecrest was
a clear standout in terms of both their transparency as well as their
deep knowledge around scaling companies like ours. They just got it:
understood our position, and what we needed to do operationally,” said
Brian Saunders, founder and CEO of BigTime Software. “Not only has the
Wavecrest team helped other firms scale up, every CEO they have worked
with holds them in extremely high regard.”
The new funding will be used to add depth to Big Time’s senior
management team, accelerate growth in sales and marketing, and fast
track additional product development hires within its Chicago team.
ABOUT BIGTIME SOFTWARE, INC.
BigTime Software, Inc. is dedicated to developing practice management
tools that help growing professional services firms track, manage and
invoice their time. Its award-winning industry-specific solutions are
designed to speak the language of consultants of all stripes, from
engineering and architecture to IT services. To see why thousands of
customers rely on BigTime’s cloud-based tools to more easily manage
their businesses and effectively plan for tomorrow, visit bigtime.net.
ABOUT WAVECREST GROWTH PARTNERS
Based in Boston, Wavecrest Growth Partners is a growth equity firm
focused on investing in and partnering with leading B2B software and
technology-enabled services companies. Wavecrest targets investments in
profitable, high-growth technology companies with proven business models
and brings to bear a unique combination of investing and operating
expertise. Wavecrest’s co-founders have three decades of combined
investing and operating experience in growth-stage B2B technology
companies. For more information, visit wavecrestgrowth.com.
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