Jul 01, 2016
Edison Partners Leads Solovis’ First Institutional Financing
In January 2016, we led Solovis’ first institutional financing, the fourth investment in Edison VIII. This round is helping the company accelerate its investment in its solutions and related services for customers.
The company’s cloud-based solutions comprehensively and cohesively bring the world of direct investments together with alternatives and their respective nuances, while providing a fully customizable data schema for analyzing risk and performance. To this end, some of the top endowments and foundations in the world have partnered with the company.
The investment management market has never been more complex, fast-moving, and rapidly evolving than it is now. Yet, most investment managers are using a collection of processes and technologies that have not kept up with their needs for transparency, rapid insight, and the ability to take quick actions. This is particularly true for managers with sophisticated, diversified portfolios and global multi-asset class exposure. However, we estimate that over 75% of the multi-asset class manager market is still using a mix of legacy, on-premise, and home grown systems, including a heavy dose of Excel.
The experiences of 2008, including the Madoff scandal, exposed the weaknesses of Excel as a credible portfolio management tool. The lack of audit trail, the ease with which a user can change a formula, and the problem of maintaining history and versions are all problems for an increasingly regulated world. At the same time, increasingly tech savvy managers are looking to achieve better returns and more closely manage risks.
This is where Solovis comes in. Its products and services revolutionize the way institutional and high net-worth investors analyze and manage their complex portfolios by enabling greater transparency, real-time performance insight, and more advanced risk management processes and reporting. The company has introduced the first, true multi-asset class portfolio management and reporting application to the market.
Why did we invest?
Market: Large and growing quickly, with more than 10,000 target customers rapidly adopting next-generation investment mangement solutions.
Momentum and leadership: Some of the industry’s largest investment managers are already customers – including one of the top five college endowments in the U.S. and one of the top five foundations in the world – and more are on the way!
Team: Founders Josh Smith, CEO, and Caleb Doise, CTO, came out of the investment manager space. They have the domain expertise and technical capacity to meet their customers’ needs, and are making great progress at building an industry leader.
And finally, we have been investing in Financial Technology for the last 30 years spanning trading, capital markets, financial applications, banking software, security and compliance, and even lending and payments. Solovis not only fits squarely with our Fintech investment strategy, but also is particularly exciting for us because of the value the product can provide to our Limited Partners.