Cary-based software firm Zift Solutions has added $70 million to its coffers.
CEO Gordon Rapkin said the move, announced Monday in a press release, makes the round’s lead investor, Investcorp Technology Partners, Zift's majority backer. That’s as the previous principal investors are still stakeholders – “this is a new investment,” Rapkin said in an interview.
Rapkin said the raise should give the company a runway to profitability.
Zift was introduced to ITP through Atlas Technology Group, the firm Zift tapped to help broker the deal. But in today’s financial environment, it wasn’t easy.
“We put this train on the track and it took a while to get done, and all throughout that time the markets were changing dramatically,” he said.
Rapkin credits the market opportunity with clinching ITP’s dollars, which he calls “explosive.”
Zift deals in the partner relationship management space as well as through-channel marketing automation software. As explained by Rapkin, 75 percent of commerce globally moves through some kind of channel, whether it’s a reseller or a distributor.
“So our market is 75 percent of all global commerce,” he said. “Companies have realized that in order to conduct that commerce efficiently, they need technologies to do that.”
That’s where Zift comes in, working with companies such as Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL).
The new funding will allow the firm to keep innovating – as well as growing, Rapkin said.
While ITP historically has invested primarily in European-based firms, Rapkin said the headquarters is staying put in Cary.
Zift is at more than 100 employees, with Cary being its largest concentration. With the pandemic, the firm shifted to remote work, and its employees “started moving all over the place.” Rapkin, for example, is now located in Rhode Island. But the Cary headquarters will continue to be an important part of the company's future, he said.
While Rapkin said the firm would be hiring, he declined to offer specifics.
“This is relatively new to us, so we’re still figuring out how we’ll deploy the capital,” he said.
Other backers in the round include existing investors such as Arrowroot, Oxx, SSM and AshGrove Capital. AshGrove led the company’s $16.5 million debt financing last year.
Zift was founded in 2006 as The Splendid Word Inc., and has a long history in the Triangle. The company was founded by Ken Romley, initially targeting marketing firms and their clients. Over the years it grew, including through acquisitions, such as the buyout of SharedVue, which doubled its R&D team in 2015. The firm’s headquarters moved to New Jersey in 2017 only to return to Cary three years later. Rapkin joined the company with Zift’s merger with Relayware.
In addition to Cary and New Jersey, Zift also has an office in the United Kingdom.