Online taxation software provider Clear (erstwhile ClearTax) has acquired cloud-based financial solutions company, CimplyFive in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed sum, the company said in a statement.
The acquisition will give Clear’s customers access to CimplyFive’s compliance risk management software. The software eliminates many procedural non-compliances under the Companies Act, 2013.
CimplyFive is a cloud-hosted application that automates company law and Sebi listing obligations (LODR).
“This acquisition will not just make our compliance suite larger but also stronger. We are committed to serving the CFO's office comprehensively,” said Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, Clear.
The CimplyFive team will function as an independent platform for now, as a part of Clear. Founder Shankar Jaganathan will continue to lead this business, the statement said.
Operated by CimplyFive Corporate Secretarial Services Pvt Ltd, CimplyFive counts entities like Fabindia, Premji Invest, Crompton, Tata-Hitachi, TVS Group, Jubilant Group and Wipro among its customers.
CimplyFive has raised capital from former chief financial officer (CFO) of Wipro, Suresh Senapaty and former Infosys CFO-turned private investor, TV Mohandas Pai.
This is Clear’s second acquisition in 2022. The fintech company has made 4 acquisitions so far - Karvy's GST business in 2020 and Y Combinator-backed enterprise payments startup yBANQ’s acquisition in a cash and stock deal in 2021.
In March, Clear acquired supply chain financing technology firm Xpedize to help the platform foray into small and mid-size enterprises (SME) credit and business-to-business (B2B) payments.
According to a report by the Hurun Research Institute, Clear stands among 17 startups that are poised to attain unicorn status in the next two years. A unicorn is a privately-held startup with a valuation of over $1 billion.
Clear allows individuals to file income tax returns and build wealth through investment in mutual funds. Through its software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based firm it also helps small and large businesses and tax professionals by offering products and services such as invoicing, GST, a range of managed services, income tax and TDS solutions, among others.
This year in January, Clear raised undisclosed funding from global product and engineering veterans including Aparna Chennapragada, chief product officer of American stock trading platform, Robinhood.
In October 2021, Clear raised $75 million (around Rs 573 crore) as a part of its Series C fundraise led by Kora Capital with global fintech Stripe, Alua Capital, and Think Investments.