Deal Radar 2008: Intacct

Intacct provides on demand financial management applications for small and midsized companies. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Jose, California with offshore operations in Bangalore, India.

Over 2,500 businesses use Intacct’s applications as an internet subscription service, by paying a monthly per user fee. New users, currencies, applications and business units can be added as the business grows. True to its SaaS nature, the information can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

In April 2008, Intacct raised another $15 million in a round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Emergence Capital, Sigma Partners and Sutter Hill Partners, all previous investors, also took part in this round. In June 2007, Intacct raised $14 million from Sigma Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures and prior investor Emergence Capital Partners. In May 2006, the company closed a $7 million round of venture capital funding led by Emergence Capital Partners, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and JK&B Capital. Total investment in the company so far is at least $36 Million. Presumably, there may have been more funding prior to May 2006, since the company has survived nuclear winter.

In an interview with Today.com, Intacct CEO Michael Braun, a veteran in the tech industry with over 35 years of experience, talks about the company’s partnership with Salesforce.com. While Salesforce addresses the front end processes like getting leads and closing the order, Intacct manages the back end from booking the order, fulfillment and cash collection. By using these two applications together, companies reduce the manual processes thereby cutting down on costs and time.

On SandHill.com, Michael Braun talks about how application software suites are a thing of the past, fast being replaced by internet based computing platforms and SaaS delivery models. In March 2007, Intacct was recognized as “Best for Replacing QuickBooks” by Inc. magazine, thereby proving this market trend. Looks like QuickBooks is under attack from multiple sides, something that should have happened years ago! In April this year Intacct was honored by JMP Securities as one of “The Hot 100: The Best Privately Held Software Companies.”

2007 has been a record year for Intacct with over 70% of their customers signing up in the last 15 months and 90% of customers ready to recommend Intacct to others (Smallbiztechnology.com). The Software and Information Industry Association has named Intacct as “Best Financial Application” for 2007.

Intacct has more than 2,500 clients, boasts 40% subscriber growth in 2007, and has a client retention rate greater than 95%. Hoovers reports 2007 Revenues to be $3.9 Million. Intacct has done a nice job of segmenting the SME market and creating semi-custom solutions for each segment, including, Franchises, Retail, Wholesale, and Hospitality, each of which have large representation in the SME universe.

By the looks of it, Intacct is a restructured company, and has taken its time to start hitting its stride. It’s still quite small, but the market trend is in their favor. This, by the way, is the kind of company that some of the Indian outsourcing companies looking to build a SaaS strategy ought to acquire.

This segment is a part in the series : Deal Radar 2008