Brussels-based Kpler, a data & analytics firm on a mission to facilitate efficient and sustainable trade, announced that it has raised $200M (approximately €185M) in a strategic growth round of funding. The development represents the first external fundraising initiative for Kpler which had been bootstrapped since its foundation in 2014.
In doubling its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in the last 18 months and conducting two self-funded acquisitions including ClipperData and JBC Energy, since last September, Kpler claims to have positioned itself as a leading firm in the next-generation data & analytics space.
Investors in this round
The round was led by Five Arrows and Insight Partners.
With AUM of approx €4.9B, Five Arrows corporate private equity is part of Rothschild & Co’s Merchant Banking business which manages over €18B globally. The firm focuses on investing in companies with highly defensible market positions; strong management teams; business models with high visibility of organic unit volume growth and strong unit economics; as well as multiple operational levers that can be used to unlock latent value. It invests in sectors including data and software, technology-enabled business services, and healthcare.
AJ Malhotra, MD at Insight Partners, says, “Kpler is upending the global trade industry with technology that makes the shipping and commodity markets more sustainable and efficient. With their solutions, thousands of customers can leverage data and analytics to make better-informed business and trading decisions.”
Insight Partners is a software investor that partners with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and scale-up companies. The firm’s recently closed fundraise, Fund XII, has taken Insight’s assets under management to over $90B. To date, the company has invested in more than 600 companies and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO.
About Kpler
Founded in 2014 by François Cazor and Jean Maynier, Kpler is on a mission to facilitate sustainable and efficient trade, to meet the changing needs of the world.
From numerous disparate and unstructured sources, Kpler creates technology-led data, analytics, and insight, that bring transparency to dynamic markets characterised by opaque and incomplete information, such as commodity markets.
The company claims to deliver its offering through technology solutions built in an agile and inventive way, enabling market professionals to make informed and timely trading decisions. Currently, Kpler employs 200 people across the world.
Capital utilisation
Kpler claims that with its new partners, it looks to further fulfil its mission to facilitate efficient and sustainable trade within physical commodities, the Energy Transition, and adjacent markets. To achieve its objectives, the company will rely on organic and inorganic growth with more acquisitions being considered. It also intends to hire over 100 staff in the coming months.
Speaking about the investors, Francois Cazor, CEO of Kpler, says, “This partnership is an important step forward in Kpler’s history. With Five Arrows and Insight Partners, we are confident we have found the best sponsors to accelerate our development now and in the long run. Our respective visions and values are very well aligned.”
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