Chicago software company Vistex has raised $65 million in new funding as the 20-year-old firm ramps up growth.
Vistex announced Thursday that it raised the $65 million equity investment from Silicon Valley-based private equity company Accel-KKR (AKKR). The funding could be worth up to $105 million as AKKR may invest an additional $40 million in the future, the company said.
The funding is the first equity capital raise in Vistex's history.
"It is unprecedented for an enterprise software company to grow to a size and scale like Vistex without any external capital," CEO and founder Sanjay Shah said in a statement.
Vistex's business software is used by companies like Kellogg's, GM, Sony and Adobe, who use the company to better deploy their products and services through Go-to-Market programs. The company has 20 offices and 1,500 employees around the world. It did nearly $250 million in revenue in 2018, the company said.
The funding comes as Vistex eyes a potential IPO, according to the Chicago Tribune. Technically based in Hoffman Estates, Vistex says it plans to open a Chicago office and double its local headcount to 600 within the next three years, according to the Tribune.
"This announcement signals the strength of Chicago's tech market. Technology entrepreneurs can also build successful and thriving companies outside of Silicon Valley, right here in Chicago," Shah added. "This infusion will provide us with the opportunity to further expand Vistex into new markets, conduct strategic acquisitions in new technologies and increase R&D efforts in AI and other capabilities."
Besides founding Vistex, Shah is perhaps best known in Chicago for paying $17 million in 2014 for the penthouse at Chicago’s Trump Tower. The purchase was at the time a record for the priciest residential real estate purchase in Chicago history.
