TreeHouse Interactive™, the technology leader in SaaS-based partner relationship management (PRM), announced today that Kennet Partners and co-investor Joe Wang have acquired majority ownership of the software company. Wang, who has already made his mark in the Utah high-tech community as president and CEO of local software powerhouse LANDesk Software, will lead the fast-growing PRM market leader as the new chairman and CEO. The company’s sole shareholders Craig Flynn and Erich Flynn will remain with the company and collaborate with Wang in leadership positions in development and sales. Craig Flynn will continue to drive product engineering and innovation in his role as executive vice president of engineering. Erich Flynn will expand and lead the company’s sales efforts as chief revenue officer.
Utah tech companies have become a hot-bed for venture capital investments over the last few years with several companies including InsideSales.com, Domo, AtTask, Jive and more accepting investment deals to expand. In fact, Utah ranks 7th nationally in venture capital funding for 2014. According to the PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report, Utah companies raised over $800 million in venture capital funding in 2014. That beats $316.2 million raised in 2013. The recent investment in TreeHouse is largely based on the growth that is anticipated in the PRM technology space.
In the 2014 Gartner Hype Cycle for CRM Sales*, PRM (partner relationship management), along with technologies such as lead management and eCommerce SaaS, is on the slope of enlightenment as an early mainstream maturity level that is expected to reach mainstream adoption from less than two years for lead management and eCommerce SaaS, to somewhere in the next two to five years for PRM. According to the report, PRM continues to gain momentum as companies work to optimize sales and marketing activities across multiple channels, and rely on third parties to expand their market presence.
In January, TreeHouse reported that the company’s total overall 2014 revenue grew 49% over 2013. The number of partners supported by Reseller View™ PRM surpassed the previous all-time high, reaching more than 160,000 worldwide at the end of 2014. TreeHouse expects the number of partners supported by its robust PRM solution to nearly double in 2015. The company’s PRM platform supports global partner networks for industry-leading enterprises including Xerox, Rackspace, Sungard AS, SGI, Magento, National Instruments, CommVault and Quantum. Reseller View was identified as a leader in Forrester Research Inc.’s The Forrester Wave™: Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Platforms report, and cited for more native functionality, superior user interfaces and usability than competing solutions.
Reseller View is the most comprehensive PRM solution available and was built from the ground up by channel experts to provide vendors with a scalable platform to deliver vendor partner sales forces with the feature rich tools needed to successfully sell, service and support their products. Functionality includes, but is not limited to:
- Deal Registration
- Lead Distribution
- Partner Portal Website Branded to Corporate Look and Feel
- Automated MDF/Co-op Management
- Partner Locator
- Automated Training and Certification Program
- Through Partner Marketing Enablement and Automation
- Integrated To Partner Marketing Engine
- Full Service Implementation (No Client Resource Required)
- Automated Partner On-boarding Process
- Automated Contract Management
- Secure Partner Portal Environment
- Out of the Box CRM Integration
- Advanced Multi-Level Document Management
- And much more…
We are seeing more business generated by the channel than ever before, said Darren Bibby, program vice president, Channels and Alliances Research at IDC. PRM technology continues to gain market traction with the growing need for manufacturers to provide partners with holistic technology solutions that automate and enable processes like deal registration, lead distribution and MDF.
Kennet is a leading growth equity investor with $700 million under management and a long track record of success. We focus on bootstrapped companies that have a proven market opportunity, product and growth potential. We were impressed with the growth and success TreeHouse Interactive has achieved in the PRM space. With more financial resources and leadership talent we are confident we can take them to the next level, said Eric Filipek, managing director of Kennet. Our investment demonstrates the confidence we have in TreeHouse’s PRM solution, the existing team and in its new CEO Joe Wang, who will bring with him a tremendous track record of success. In addition to Eric Filipek, Kennet managing director Javier Rojas will also join TreeHouse’s board of directors.
Mr. Wang’s record includes growing businesses and generating tremendous returns during his 25 years in high technology. As CEO at WatchGuard Technologies, he successfully turned around the revenue declining and money-losing business, creating a profitable and growing company with vastly improved technology and market position. Prior to joining WatchGuard, Wang was president and CEO of LANDesk Software, an Intel spin-off, where he grew the company by 150 percent in four years. He sold LANDesk Software in 2007, generating 11x return for investors. Prior to LANDesk, Wang was founder and CEO of 20/20 Software. He successfully grew the company and then sold to Symantec, generating 10x return for his investors.
Utah has developed into a hotbed of SaaS technology, and I’m excited to be back in this dynamic market, said Joe Wang, chairman and CEO of TreeHouse Interactive. My investment in TreeHouse demonstrates my strong belief that Reseller View PRM is by far the best PRM technology available today, backed by a powerful team of people. I look forward to strengthening our technology leadership position in the PRM market and expanding the company worldwide.
Our Founder, Craig, and I vetted several investment firms over many months for possible investment, said Erich Flynn, chief revenue officer of TreeHouse Interactive. Kennet Partners and Joe Wang have a proven track record growing successful businesses. We are looking forward to using this investment and adding resources to accelerate sales, product roadmap, and growth objectives while continuing to deliver the innovative technology and support our existing clients have come to expect.
*Gartner Report: Hype Cycle for CRM Sales, 2014, Robert P. Desisto, July 16, 2014
About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international growth equity firm that invests in companies in Europe and North America. Kennet supports entrepreneurial technology businesses with expansion capital to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value. Kennet is an experienced investor with approximately $700 million in funds under management. For more information: www.kennet.com. Kennet Partners Limited is authorized and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.
About TreeHouse Interactive
TreeHouse Interactive delivers leading SaaS-based partner relationship management (PRM) and marketing automation platform (MAP) solutions to companies that want to get better return on investment from their partner networks and marketing efforts. Reseller View is the most complete PRM in the industry while Marketing View has been innovating marketing automation since 1998. For more information, visit www.treehousei.com or call 801.576.8428.
