The India team of the US-based private equity firm TA Associates has sealed a deal to pick up a stake in Accion Labs Inc., a software engineering product company focussed on emerging technologies.
TA Associates said in a statement that it invested in Accion Labs along with Basil Technology Partners, a Singapore-based specialist technology investor. It didn't disclose the financial details of the deal.
Avendus Capital, the investment banking arm of the KKR-owned Avendus Group, was the exclusive financial adviser to Accion Labs and its shareholders on the transaction.
“We believe that TA will prove to be a valuable partner as we seek to further grow Accion organically and through acquisitions, with a particular focus on the US and European markets,” Kinesh Doshi, founder and CEO at Accion, said.
Founded by Doshi in 2011, Pittsburgh-based Accion Labs says it helps technology companies and enterprises leverage its expertise in areas such as advanced user experience, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, and migration to the cloud and software-as-a-service-based platforms.
Separately, Basil Technology Partners executive chairman and managing partner Rajeev Srivastava said the firm was confident in its investment in Accion Labs because of its disruptive impact on the information technology services space.
Accion says it has over 2,600 engineers with offices across countries such as the US, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of Asia. Clients of the company include software product companies, enterprises, digital-first businesses and SaaS firms.
TA Associates
The Boston-based private equity firm was initially set up in 1968. According to its website, the firm has a presence in the US, India, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. It acts as an investor in sectors including business services, healthcare, financial services, consumer and technology.
In May last year, TA Associates hit the final close of its thirteenth fund – the TA XIII Fund – at $8.5 billion. The fund was launched in the first quarter of 2019 and exceeded its $7.5 billion target. The firm said the fund would focus on equity investments in middle-market growth companies.
In January this year, VCCircle reported that the PE firm was in the advanced stages of discussions to make its third bet in India’s pharmaceutical sector. The PE firm had struck its first India healthcare deal in 2010 when it invested in diagnostics chain Dr Lal PathLabs Ltd.
It invested in drug ingredients maker Shilpa Medicare Ltd in late 2016 and in pharmaceutical products supplier Ideal Cures Pvt. Ltd a few months later.
Other firms in its portfolio include the SaaS-based RateGain, Indira IVF, rural and semi-urban-focussed bank Fincare, and personal and corporate investment planning services firm Prudent Corporate Advisory Services.
