Boston, MA – Capstone Partners LLC, a leading investment banking firm, announced that it has successfully advised CyberGrants, Inc. (“CyberGrants”) on a significant growth equity investment from Waud Capital Partners, LLC. Capstone Partners acted as financial advisor to CyberGrants on this transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed.
Founded in 1999, CyberGrants is the leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions supporting employee engagement, grant management and corporate social responsibility. CyberGrants has delivered fully-hosted web-based SaaS solutions to many of the largest companies and foundations in the world, including 40% of the Fortune 100. Through its integrated grants management and employee engagement suite, CyberGrants connects companies, foundations, employees and not-for-profits to support the delivery of more than $2.5 billion of charitable giving annually.
Coincident with the investment, Mark Layden has been appointed as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Layden is an accomplished software executive with over 25 years of leadership experience within the application software industry at both start-up companies as well as large global enterprises such as SAP AG and FICO. Mr. Layden was most recently Chief Operating Officer of Applied Systems, Inc. During his tenure, the company became the largest provider of insurance agency management software in North America, with more than 1,100 employees serving over 14,000 clients.
“Capstone’s deep knowledge of the SaaS space, high-touch guidance and uncanny ability to instantly understand my company and the highly specialized market it serves paved the way for a great outcome.” commented CyberGrants President and Co-Founder Sean Flanagan. “Their skill in positioning my company in the most attractive light, bringing all of the right potential partners to the table and managing a competitive process resulted in a valuation that far exceeded my expectations and allowed us to attract the ideal partner in Waud Capital Partners.”
“The fact that Sean and Karen Flanagan have built the market leading SaaS company in the corporate giving market serving 40% of the Fortune 100 with no outside capital is an extraordinary entrepreneurial achievement,” said David Michaels, Managing Director and Head of Technology & Telecom at Capstone Partners. “By partnering with Waud Capital Partners and Mark Layden, CyberGrants now has the capital and management expertise that will fuel the next phase of growth while enabling Sean to achieve his goal of transitioning to a board director role.”
Waud Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm founded in 1993 that partners with exceptional management teams to invest in middle-market growth equity investments, buyouts, industry consolidations, and recapitalizations. The firm seeks to invest $20 million to $100 million in private companies and focuses on healthcare services and business and technology services. The firm has successfully completed more than 160 investments since its founding and currently has approximately $1.3 billion of assets under management.
Capstone Partners LLC is a premier investment banking firm dedicated to serving the corporate finance needs of middle market business owners, investors and creditors. The firm provides corporate sale & divestiture, merger & acquisition, private placement, corporate restructuring, valuation and financial advisory services. Capstone maintains various industry specialties including Business Services, Consumer Products, Education & Training, Government Services, Health & Medical, Manufacturing & Industrial and Technology & Telecom. The firm also has a merchant banking capability to actively co-invest in transactions. Headquartered in Boston, Capstone has offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, Silicon Valley and Tampa.
