Software giant Atlassian is acquiring Georgetown, Texas-based agile development software maker AgileCraft for $166 million, the companies announced Monday.
It's a huge exit for AgileCraft, which was founded in 2013.
The company, led by founder and CEO Steve Elliott, had raised just over $10 million in funding. That came mostly in a $10 million Series A in 2015 led by private equity firm Crane Nelson. Former Bank of America executives Jim Kelly and Tim Arnoult also added to the round.
AgileCraft makes software that helps development teams using the agile development method monitor and update projects. That provides executive teams a quicker way of viewing and understanding development flow.
In a blog post, Elliott said he became passionate about helping large enterprise companies change the way they develop and plan.
"Looking back, this was an audacious goal for a scrappy startup, and I'm super proud of how we've helped enable transformational change for some of the world's most-admired companies," he wrote.
Atlassian and AgileCraft share a few joint customers, including AT&T and Fidelity. And Atlassian said it expects to add $1 million to $2 million to its annual revenue as a result of buying AgileCraft.
The acquisition totals about $166 million. Of that, $154 million is in cash.
"Many leaders are still making mission-critical decisions using their instincts and best guesses instead of data," Scott Farquhar, Atlassian’s co-founder and co-CEO, said in a statement. "As Atlassian tools spread through organizations, technology leaders need better visibility into work performed by their teams. With AgileCraft joining Atlassian, we believe we’re the best company to help executives align the work across their organization - providing an all-encompassing view that connects strategy, work, and outcomes.”
Atlassian, which is based in San Francisco and has offices in Austin, provides software that helps business teams work together, including Jira.
The company became well known for its HipChat workplace communications app. But that, along with another product called Stride, was scooped up by competitor Slack last year. That was followed by news that Atlassian would lay off 101 employees in Austin. Even after the layoffs, Atlassian still has hundreds of employees in Austin.
At the time, Atlassian said it would expand its offerings for technical and IT teams.
