Sep 01, 2021
Generates strong IRR for investment term; Edison Partners will rollover a portion of its investment into Onit as legaltech adoption continues to accelerate post-pandemic
PRINCETON, NJ. (September 1, 2021)—Edison Partners, the leading growth equity firm, today announced the sale of its stake in legal technology platform Bodhala to Onit, Inc., the leading provider of enterprise legal management software. The exit generated a strong return and IRR for Edison Partners. Edison Partners will continue as an investor in Onit. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Edison Partners invested in Bodhala less than 18 months ago in April 2020 as market conditions forced companies to look for ways to optimize spend while maintaining results. General counsels leverage Bodhala’s platform to optimize their outside legal spend by unlocking insights from data they already had. Bodhala grew revenue 400% in the past 18 months as the company added private equity, insurance and energy customers to its AI-powered data analytics and spend management platform.
“We’re incredibly impressed with the management team’s ability to lead the company and build its business during a difficult time. Bodhala found an ideal home at Onit and significantly expanded the opportunity to drive better outcomes for corporate legal departments,” said Daniel Herscovici, Partner, Edison Partners, who led the investment in Bodhala and served on the company’s board.
Herscovici added: “Akin to our investments in fintech, regtech, logistics and supply chain, we believe legaltech holds great promise. More specifically, legaltech aligns with our strategy to invest in companies that ingest complex, unstructured data and leverage unique knowledge and tech to extract actionable insights that help enterprises grow, save money, and become more efficient. We look forward to continuing to support CEO Raj Goyle and the entire Bodhala and Onit teams.”
Companies spend $750 billion globally in annual purchasing of outside counsel services. Onit uses automation and AI to simplify work and enhance productivity for in-house counsels at Fortune 500 companies.
“Data and insights have become critical to helping corporate legal teams modernize and maximize their budgets. Dan and the Edison Edge team were best practice partners in our decision-making and emergence as a leading legaltech platform. Now, by joining with Onit, we can further scale our solutions, optimize legal spend for companies, and create a true economic market for legal services,” said Raj Goyle, co-founder and CEO, Bodhala.
Bodhala marks Edison Partners’ third exit of a portfolio company to a strategic buyer in the last two months. In July, PandoLogic was acquired by Veritone (NASDAQ: VERI) and in August, Bento for Business was acquired by US Bank. Last year, Edison Partners achieved its fifth consecutive record year for gross exit proceeds. The firm is on track to surpass the record again in 2021. To learn more, visit Edison Partners's portfolio.
About Bodhala
Bodhala, the leading legal spend analytics and management platform, provides corporate legal departments with in-depth analytics and spend optimization solutions based on real-time market intelligence. Powered by machine learning and AI, Bodhala transforms messy data into actionable, high-impact insights to help companies save up to 20% on their outside counsel spend. The company, headquartered in New York and founded by attorneys, serves clients across the Fortune 500 and critical services economy industries. Bodhala was named the 2020 Legal Spend Management Innovation of the Year by the LegalTech Breakthrough Awards and One to Watch in Legal Technology by the Financial Times. For more information, visit bodhala.com.
About Edison Partners
For 35 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams grow and scale successful companies. The firm's investment team brings extensive investing and operating experience to each investment. Through a unique combination of growth capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of operating centers of excellence, the Edison Director Network, and executive education programs, Edison employs a truly integrated approach to accelerating growth and creating value for businesses. A team of experts in enterprise solutions, financial technology, and healthcare IT sectors, Edison targets high-growth companies located outside Silicon Valley with $10 to $30 million in revenue; investments also include buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts and secondary stock purchases.
Edison's active portfolio has created aggregated market value exceeding $10 billion. Edison Partners is based in Princeton, NJ and manages more than $1.4 billion in assets.
