M-Files Corp., a software company making data- and content-organization tools, has raised $80 million.
And though the company's global headquarters is in Finland, it clearly intends to spend a good chunk of that money in the Texas capital, where CEO Antti Nivala lives. M-Files has plans to add more than a dozen jobs locally and seek new office space this year, Nivala said.
Nivala started M-Files in 2000 in Finland. About a decade ago, the company established an office in the Dallas suburb of Plano as its hub for North American operations.
M-Files moved its North American headquarters to Austin in December 2019. The fresh $80 million, announced Jan. 12, is a major infusion for the company, which makes software that allows businesses to "organize, manage and track documents and information."
London-headquartered investment firm Bregal Milestone led the minority-stake investment, which included current investors Paris-based Partech Partners; Tesi, a Finnish-government-owned venture capital and private equity firm; and Draper Esprit, a London-headquartered venture capital firm.
M-Files has raised a total of about $127 million to date.
The $80 million funding round provides the business with plenty of runway, so Nivala said no plans exist for raising additional capital.
“Our growth plan is healthy — we’re not burning huge amounts of money anymore,” he said. “We’re in a good position to grow our revenue and cash flow from customers.”
Nivala himself moved to Austin from Finland in January 2020, he said. Other executives in Austin include Chief Financial Officer Justin Kim and Chief Marketing Officer Maria Carballosa.
M-Files will continue to operate its Plano office, Nivala said. But it's working with JLL to find new office space in Austin this year.
“We’re looking for a great physical space here in Austin that is a suitable space for the headquarters location,” the CEO said.
Nivala said the region’s talent pool, particularly for software-as-a-service positions, ultimately persuaded him to shift M-Files' focus to Austin.
That talent pool will be tapped this year, as the company seeks to swiftly double its Austin headcount from 20 to 40. However, remote work means it is possible some new hires could be based elsewhere.
About 100 of the company’s 500 total workers are based in the United States, Nivala said. M-Files has 11 offices worldwide, including in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia, according to its website.
Among the positions to be filled are product development, software engineers and go-to-market sales and marketing jobs.
M-Files also will be investing more in marketing overall.
“We’re not yet as well-known as we feel we deserve to be,” Nivala said.
M-Files boasts about 5,000 customers, including NBC Universal and the United Nations Environment Programme, across roughly 100 countries, the company said.
While the CEO declined to share specific revenue figures, he identified $100 million in annual recurring revenue as “a near-term target.” The company remains purposefully unprofitable, Nivala said. Any profits the company does make, it invests “into new growth,” he said.
Legacy information-management software companies, such as Canada-based OpenText Corp. (Nasdaq: OTEX) and Ohio-based Hyland Software Inc. are among M-Files' competitors, Nivala said.
With the new funding round secured, the company has “no need for short-term exit planning,” the CEO said.
