Houston-based software firm CloudNine plans to hire and expand its product suite after closing "a major funding round," the firm announced June 14.
CloudNine's equity investment was led by Denver-based private equity firm Crest Rock Partners. Crest Rock partners and co-founders Steve Johnson and Jeff Carnes will join the CloudNine board in conjunction with the investment. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
CloudNine makes electronic discovery automation software for litigation, investigations and audits. The firm's cloud-based or on-premise software products are used by more than 1,000 law firms, legal services providers, government agencies and corporations, CloudNine said.
"Within the last decade, the rapid addition of new communication mediums has made identifying, collecting and storing information in response to a request for production in a lawsuit or investigation more difficult than ever to capture and process," said Tony Caputo, CEO of CloudNine. "This investment capital will enable us to increase our investment in additional product offerings and allow both new and existing customers to rely on CloudNine to manage e-discovery complexity."
Portions of the investment will go toward hiring, CloudNine said. The company plans to increase its headcount by more than 50% in the next three years. CloudNine will also invest in developing new software offerings to simplify the e-discovery process. The equity investment will also go toward funding future acquisitions.
“We have followed CloudNine’s growing momentum over the last several years and jumped at the chance to make a growth investment into the business," said Johnson. "We are excited to partner with the CloudNine team and look forward to building upon their recent market momentum."
CloudNine was founded in 2002. Headquartered in Houston, the firm has additional locations in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Dayton, Ohio, as well as remote employees in the U.S. Caputo, a veteran in the legal and e-discovery technology industry, joined CloudNine as CEO in 2019.
