Samir Bodas and Icertis are turning competitors into partners

Samir Bodas, on the Business Journal's Power 100 List for 2022, has guided the Bellevue-based contract management company Icertis through multiple milestones over the past year.

Icertis now has more than 2,400 employees globally, up from about 1,400 in March 2021, when the company raised an $80 million Series F round. The company received an investment in January from the German software giant SAP SE for an undisclosed amount and landed $150 million in October through a revolving credit facility and convertible financing from Silicon Valley Bank.

ABOUT SAMIR BODAS

Despite all the funding and growing headcount, Bodas, Icertis’ co-founder and CEO, in August told the Business Journal the company isn’t rushing to go public.

"An IPO is like hitting your 21st birthday," Bodas said at the time. "You get to the legal age. You party. That's it. And then you have 79 years ahead of you, don't forget. Party, but remember you have 79 years to go. So I think we'll have that party one day in several years, but we are focused on the 79 years."

Bodas told the Business Journal Icertis ended last year with $150 million in annual recurring revenue. In January, an Icertis spokesperson confirmed to the Business Journal that SoftBank had invested in Icertis in October 2021 at a $5 billion value.

Icertis was founded in 2009. Its technology helps clients manage contracts with employees, customers and suppliers. According to the company, Icertis has managed more than 10 million contracts worth over $1 trillion on its platform. The company’s clients include Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Google.

In late July, Icertis named Rajat Bahri as its new chief financial officer. He replaced Curt Anderson, who had been in the position for four years. According to Bodas, Anderson was leaving to spend more time with family. Bahri was the CFO of the Virginia-based identity management company ID.me before joining Icertis. As of late November, he led a team of roughly 60 people, but Icertis is hiring finance roles.

“Don’t forget to have fun. Smile. Laugh. Enjoy. … As you grind away and build a wonderful company, the best that you can build, laugh a bit and have some fun. It’s OK.”

— Icertis co-founder and CEO Samir Bodas in a 2021 interview with the Business Journal on the importance of enjoying the moment while building a company

Despite the growth at Icertis, Bodas said the company plans to downsize its physical space when its lease expires next year. He added that constant remote work could result in less innovation down the road. 

Icertis, meanwhile, tries to encourage employees to come into the office through fun reasons to meet like celebrations and brainstorming sessions. The company’s offsites will feature some time dedicated to something fun like a game or a sport. Icertis’ employees range from coming in most of the time to working remotely most of the time.

Bodas in August said the SAP investment came after the companies competed in the contract management space for years, but SAP eventually found it hard to compete and wanted to become partners. 

“(SAP) took their contract management products and said, ‘We won’t invest in that. Icertis will be the contract management solution for all our customers.’ They took a small investment in us,” Bodas said previously. “Now we go to market with them.”

Icertis’ past 14 months:

The company has hit some crucial milestones recently.