Category: AMS

MemberSuite acquires EventFarm

In July 2019, AMS platform MemberSuite acquired event management system EventFarm. Terms were not disclosed. Read the news story.

MemberSuite has raised over $15M in funding since 2016.

Rubicon exits Personify, Pamlico takes over

In September 2018, Rubicon exited from their investment in Personify. In July 2018, Personify added a strategic investor, Pamlico, which is now the private equity firm funding Personify.

Read the press release announcing the exit.

Personify has a new investor

In July 2018, Personify announced a new strategic investor, Pamlico Capital. Personify was due for a new private equity investor, as their previous investment from Rubicon was going on five years.

This AMS has an inside track on blockchain tech

Thanks to last year’s acquisition of Wild Apricot, Personify is poised to lead the pack on blockchain technology in the AMS market. Why?

Dmitry Buterin, the founder of Wild Apricot happens to be the father of Vitalik Buterin, co-creator of Ethereum, which is widely acknowledged as the second most valuable cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin. Dmitry is a blockchain enthusiast, and left his position at Wild Apricot to pursue business ventures in blockchain.

And although the elder Buterin has moved on from his post at Wild Apricot, he still serves in an advisory role at Personify, and the Wild Apricot technical team remains highly interested in how blockchain could be applied to associations.

So if you’re curious to see how blockchain applications make their way into the association market, keep your eye on Wild Apricot and Personify.

MemberSuite accepts $5.5M in funding

In November 2017, MemberSuite accepted a $5.5M round of funding. Check out the SEC filing.

To the best of my knowledge, MemberSuite is the only venture capital-backed AMS in the market, and has raised $13M in funding since September 2016. They appointed a new CEO in November 2017. This round of funding may have been used to acquire the shares owned by the founder and former CEO, transferring ownership of the company to new shareholders.

M&A and Investment Panel finalized for AMS Fest

Before there was Community Brands, there was the dynamic duo of AMS Fest & theNIRD, leading the conversation about M&A, investments, and consolidation in the association technology market. For more than 14 months now, we’ve been informing association executives on how high finance affects the association technology landscape before anyone thought it mattered, and we’re just getting started.

Our next collaboration is coming up November 13-14 at AMS Fest in Washington, DC. We’ve convened an all-star panel of CEOs to discuss how different financial models affect their customers, and ultimately, their customers’ members. Expect a spirited debate as privately-held and private equity backed AMS CEOs go toe-to-toe on provocative questions about their financial posture. The panel includes:

  • JP Guilbault, President of St. Petersburg-based Community Brands. The blockbuster Community Brands deal, which consolidated four leading AMS platforms in March 2017, lent new energy to the M&A and investment conversation that AMS Fest and theNIRD started. Community Brands is backed by private equity firm Insight Venture Partners. And JP is excited about it, too (see his recent Facebook post).
  • Charlie Vinal, CEO of Euclid, a privately-held company based in Bethesda, Maryland and purveyors of the ClearVantage AMS. Euclid boasts that “90% of the company is owned by Euclid employees. This means that Euclid answers to its clients, not venture capital or private equity firms, many of which put short-term profitability ahead of long-term client satisfaction.” How’s that for an opening salvo?
  • Sarah Asterbadi, CEO of MemberNova, a relatively new entrant to the AMS market, based in Toronto. MemberNova is privately-held, with backing from a successful parent company, Club Runner, that specializes in club management software. I was recently introduced to Sarah by phone, and — hang on — after our conversation, I’m convinced she’s a firecracker who’s going to light a spark that’ll blow the lid off of this conversation.

But wait, there’s more!

We’ve also got an association CEO on our panel to bring the perspective of how “the big cheese” should be thinking about M&A and investments.

  • Mark Dorsey, CAE is CEO of the Construction Specifications Institute, based in Alexandria, Virginia. Mark brings a well-rounded perspective to the panel as a CEO who has experienced the effects of M&A and investments on associations he has headed, and negotiated the sale of a business owned by his association employer. He’s also highly respected in the association management field, and an ASAE Fellow.

Hold on! Still more electrifying goodness to share: During the session, we’ll reveal the results of a survey on association executives’ attitudes towards the various funding models at work in the association market. You can take the three-minute survey now, if you haven’t already.

Register for AMS Fest now — there are only a few seats left — to catch this panel discussion and other cutting-edge sessions on blockchain, EU data privacy laws, digital transformation, and Uberization. Plus a few you’ll-never-guess surprises.

Register now. Seriously; you’ll regret not attending.

Association Technology M&A and Investment Visualization

I’m preparing for a couple of presentations on consolidation in the association technology sector (including at AMS Fest, November 13-14 in Washington, DC), and wanted to share this visualization in my slide deck of how technology companies are aligning, and which ones have taken investments. This isn’t a complete view of the activity, and covers about a two year period, but it should help you grasp the extent of the consolidation. If you’re reading this in your email inbox, download the images, or click through to see the visualization.