Maven Capital Partners has successfully realised a major portion of its investment in Manchester-based compliance and preservation software provider, MirrorWeb, by selling it to a US growth equity firm.
This transaction has delivered a 4.0x return on cost for the Maven VCTs, including the value of a retained minority stake in the business, and a 5.1x return on cost for NPIF Maven Equity Finance. MirrorWeb has made notable advancements in the US market due to its proprietary technology. Its platform, Insight, enables financial services institutions to communicate through a wide range of modern channels, capturing and archiving data in full compliance, thereby helping the world’s largest financial institutions meet stringent record-keeping requirements.
MirrorWeb assists businesses, multinationals, institutions, and government departments in capturing, monitoring, supervising, and evidencing changes in their digital content through its unified communications surveillance platform. The heightened requirement for digital preservation, driven by a surge in communications technology and increasingly stringent regulations, has led to increased demand for MirrorWeb’s solution. This demand is particularly significant in financial services, where monitoring and archiving content across websites, social media platforms, mobile channels, email, and business communications like Microsoft Teams and Slack is compulsory.
Maven first backed MirrorWeb in 2018 via NPIF Maven Equity Finance to facilitate the rollout of its innovative technology. At that time, MirrorWeb was an emerging company with low revenue and high customer concentration but had developed a cutting-edge compliance-focused solution and a clear and credible business strategy for scaling up. Multiple rounds of funding, which later included investments from the Maven VCTs, allowed the business to grow substantially, bringing Maven’s total investment in MirrorWeb to more than £6.2 million.
The funding helped MirrorWeb to enter the US market, with CEO David Clee relocating to Austin, Texas, to spearhead the company’s go-to-market strategy and invest heavily in product development. This strategic move significantly enhanced the functionality of MirrorWeb’s technology, achieving consistent year-on-year recurring revenue growth and a significant increase in headcount.
Jeremy Thompson, Partner at Maven, stated, “This transaction is an excellent outcome for Maven’s client funds, the management team, and the business. MirrorWeb’s story demonstrates what an ambitious Manchester-based business can achieve when a talented leadership team is supported effectively.” He further added, “The deal structure allows our VCT funds to retain an equity stake in MirrorWeb post-transaction, which was a key objective based on our knowledge of the business and the team’s potential for substantial growth and shareholder value.”
MirrorWeb CEO, David Clee, commented, “Maven supported us when we were a small start-up – they believed in us as a management team and saw the potential in our vision. Their continuous support through multiple follow-on funding rounds was crucial for our product and commercial strategy development.” He added, “Over the six years of our partnership, Maven provided invaluable advice that helped us grow the business. Our relationship has been a true partnership, and I am proud of our joint achievements.”
The shareholders were advised on the transaction by DC Advisory (corporate finance) and Squire Patton Boggs (legal). Additionally, BDO (financial diligence and tax), GRAPH Strategy (commercial diligence), and Leckie Kershaw (technology diligence) offered their expertise to MirrorWeb during the transaction.
This sale underscores the significant value that strategic investment and expert guidance can bring to a burgeoning technology company, enabling it to achieve substantial growth and market penetration.
