Heads up, there’s another private equity fund in town. New York private equity fund Lightyear Capital has launched ProfitSolv to sweep up and integrate payment and billing solutions – and one of its first acquisitions is leading cloud-based practice and case management system Rocket Matter.
ProfitSolv will set its sights on making acquisitions across the professional services software and payments solutions industry, which it describes as “a highly fragmented market with a large number of smaller providers.” It estimates that the market for these solutions is $1.4bn in the legal vertical alone.
ProfitSolv has made three acquisitions to date: Rocket Matter, which was founded by Larry Port in 2009; cloud-based legal time and billing solution TimeSolv; and practice management provider ImagineTime.
The new launch is timed to coincide with the move away from paper-based processes and driven by the belief that there will be a further flight towards vertically integrated solutions that integrate and automate billing, invoicing, and electronic payments.
Kelley Castell has been appointed chief executive officer of ProfitSolv. He has served in a variety of senior leadership roles at fintech and payments companies including Bluefin Payment Systems, Oasis Outsourcing, and First Data.
“Our investment in ProfitSolv reflects our long-term investment thesis that embedding payment solutions in vertically integrated, sector-specific software will continue to gain market share from more traditional software providers,” said Mark Vassallo, managing partner of Lightyear. “We believe that solutions which integrate and automate billing, invoicing, and electronic payments will deliver stronger, more efficient receivables management, particularly since most small businesses still process paper checks.”
Lightyear’s other investment funds include HigherOne, which serves higher education institutions, and Alegeus, which manages consumer-directed healthcare payments. It has a current investment in Therapy Brands, which serves behavioral and mental health professionals.
Greater Sum Ventures (“GSV”) holds a significant minority stake in ProfitSolv.
