iManage has received a substantial minority investment from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities (BCTO), we can reveal, in a move that CEO Neil Araujo tells Legal IT Insider will help propel the Chicago-headquartered company to the “next level” of growth. There will be no change to iManage’s management team. Phil Meicler, a partner at BCTO, will join the iManage board.
Araujo told Legal IT Insider: “This is a minority, non-controlling stake, but it’s a substantial minority ownership interest which gives us what I believe to be a very strong partner that is invested in us and our success, and most importantly that respects and appreciates the way we run the business and our obligations to customers and employees.”
Araujo said that the investment sum received is secondary to iManage’s ability to now leverage Bain’s consulting heritage and deep advisory capability. Bain was attracted by iManage’s strong growth and its roadmap, including a significant announcement this year around the evolution of its cloud platform.
The investment will release equity to a handful of private backers of iManage and employees with options. iManage engaged a handful of potential investors before deciding on Bain. Araujo told us: “There is a real appreciation for the values of iManage and the principles by which we have run the business, particularly in the last seven years.”
In a statement he said: “This is a proud and pivotal moment in iManage’s history. Endorsement by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities is a testament to the strength of the current business we have developed and the potential opportunity to grow and have a lasting impact.
“The partnership is a perfect fit thanks to our shared values on customer and employee experience. Bain Capital brings a wealth of experience that will support the scaling of our vision and enable us to accelerate our already extraordinary growth trajectory while remaining focused on the needs and aspirations of our customers. I am truly excited for the future as we continue to deliver on our mission to transform, enable and support how knowledge workers get work done.”
In a teaser of what is to come later this year, Araujo told Legal IT Insider that iManage has taken the RAVN intellectual property and rebuilt it from scratch so that it will enable iManage Cloud customers to classify and extract information from documents “at the push of a button.”
Meicler said: “Neil and his tenured management team have done an outstanding job building iManage into a global leader, helping the world’s leading organizations manage documents and email more efficiently while protecting vital information assets, meeting regulatory requirements, and improving workflows. The scale of our investment reflects our conviction in the iManage team, their vision and customer centric approach, and we are excited to partner with Neil and the team to help deepen and expand the product experience and continue to serve existing and new market opportunities.”
Lazard Ltd. acted as exclusive financial advisor to iManage.